


I've Got You

by tptigger



Series: The Jeanie Trilogy [1]
Category: Star Trek: Discovery
Genre: Grief/Mourning, It's not like Lorca can separate the saucer section, Kid Fic, M/M, Not comics compliant, Original Female Character - Freeform, not sure if it's an au or not, rating is for swearing and innuendo
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-05-25
Updated: 2018-05-27
Packaged: 2019-05-13 13:04:51
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 23,302
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14749410
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/tptigger/pseuds/tptigger
Summary: When her home is attacked by Klingons, Paul's niece ends up on Discovery for a few days.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Many thanks to 30MinuteLoop for beta reading. Also thanks to all in chat who talked me down out of massive editing due to the Culmets comic.
> 
> Edit: [Look at the cute fanart Pumpkino drew!](https://pumpkino.tumblr.com/post/177768973243/heres-a-quick-cuuuuute-cuddle-of-jeanie-with-paul)

The cargo hold was in chaos. Discovery was first on the scene after the Klingon attack on the Omicron Delta space station. They were beaming and shuttling refugees to the ship as fast as possible.

The medical staff was in full triage mode, with only the worst cases being sent to sickbay. Hugh Culber had pulled triage duty in the shuttle bay. He was trying hard to focus strictly on triaging the various people around him. When he was treating a patient he was fine. The moment he finished with each person, he turned back towards the docking shuttles, scanning for familiar faces in the crowds streaming out of them.

Mostly, though he had to focus on attending to patients. Culber finished knitting a broken bone. "That should do it. Take it easy for a couple of days and then it should be good as new."

"Thank you doctor," said the middle aged man.

Hugh turned to the newly docked shuttle behind him, straining to look at the people streaming out of it.

"Doctor Culber," Cadet Tilly said gently. She'd been pulled from engineering to help the medical staff keep things organized.

"Right, sorry." Culber turned back to her. "Who's next?"

"Uncle Hugh?" A tiny voice called from behind him.

Culber turned to find a small, pale, blonde-haired child in bright pink pants and a green sweater decorated with a large, puffy lady bug. The moment she saw his face, she barreled towards him. He bent down automatically and hoisted her onto hip, hugging her tight. "Jeanie! Are you okay? Are you hurt?" He kissed her brow, then each of her cheeks. Then he thought to look around for her parents.

Ensign Parrish glared at him from the shuttle door, but there was no sign of Stacy and Marvin.

"Uncle Hugh! There were loud noises and things blowing up and a lot of noise and Mommy told me to hide and then the mean man came and he wouldn't look for Mommy and Daddy and he wouldn't let me look and when I said I didn't want to go he picked me up and wouldn't put me down and Mommy and Daddy are still on the station and they're probably looking for me and Mommy's going to be worried and I'm so scared and we have to go back and..." 

"Jeanie, breathe," Hugh said, gently.

She took in a deep breath.

"We're evacuating the station," Hugh said. "The Klingons attacked and the Discovery stopped them, but we need to get everyone off the station now before it goes down. Someone will find your parents and bring them here. We'll get your Uncle Paul to come up from work."

"We'll get your name in the database," Tilly said, punching in some buttons in her PADD. "What's your full name?"

"Jean Louise Carleton-Stamets."

"Okay," Tilly said. "Dr. Culber, should I put your quarters as her berth?"

They were building a grid of temporary housing in the cargo bays for the refugees, but Saru had been asking for volunteers amongst the more senior officers to allow people to crash on their couches. He hadn't bothered to ask Paul if they should volunteer for a stranger, but Paul would certainly want their niece safe with them if her parents couldn't be found.

He probably wouldn't even mind his big sister and his brother in law on the floor.

"Works for me," Hugh said.

Jeanie buried her face in the crook of his neck.

There was a gentle cough behind him. Patients. Right.

"I called Lieutenant Stamets; he's on his way," Tilly said. "Jeanie? Your uncle needs to check out some of these nice people to make sure they're okay. I've got a coloring page on my PADD. Want to check it out?"

"Okay," Jeanie said. She gave Hugh another squeeze as he set her down.

"Thanks, Cadet," Culber said. He turned back to his next patient. an old man wearing a tunic and loose fitting pants. "Thanks for your patience, sir."

"Son, after the day I've had, I'll take a little good news where I can find it," he replied. "Besides, she's cute."

Hugh smiled. "What can I help you with?"

"I knocked my arm and it's hurting more than it should be. I'd think it's just bruised but at my age..."

"Better safe than sorry," Culber agreed, picking up the medical scanner.

* * *

Stamets took a quick look at the lab's PADD, trying to remember what he was doing before Tilly had called him with the news.

"I'll finish up and shut it down, sir," Burnham offered. "You go ahead."

"Thanks, Burnham." Stamets clapped her shoulder, handed her the PADD, dashed out of the spore forest and then engineering, into the hallway, and smack into a bony bundle of flesh.

He recoiled, blinking.

"Lieutenant Stamets," Saru chided. "I trust that you usually watch where you're going, but as you've run into me so to speak..."

"My sister lives on Omicron Delta and my niece is in the cargo bay and..." Stamets started, then stopped, as it registered who he was addressing. He straightened his back. "My apologies, Commander, but..."

"I'll walk with you and we can speak on the way." Saru turned on the balls of his feet and walked towards the turbolift.

"Thank you." Stamets fell into step. "What can I do for you, Commander?"

"What is the status of the long term safety testing of the spore drive?" Saru asked as they reached the turbo lift. He hit the call button.

Stamets blinked. "Still very preliminary, why?"

Saru frowned. "Captain Lorca is proposing that we use it to..."

"With all these civilians on board?" Stamets asked incredulously. "Many of whom are young children and therefore will be getting twice the dosage of the emissions? That's a terrible idea and it's against..."

"Several dozen Starfleet regulations," Saru finished as the doors to the turbolift whooshed open. 

"Also any research safety protocol ever." Stamets strode onto the turbolift, shaking his head. "Does the captain not realize this is a science vessel?"

"Deck seven," Saru told the turbolift. "I will pretend that I didn't hear that, Lieutenant. Especially since I thought it myself."

Stamets rubbed the bridge of his nose. "Any idea why Captain Lorca is in such a rush that he's willing to take big risks with all these civilians?"

"No. I'm relieved you share my concerns; when I raised them, the captain intimated that I was being paranoid." Saru paused. "He seems..." He stopped. "It doesn't matter."

Stamets was tempted to push, but Saru probably had already said more than he should have. He appreciated that Saru admitting to agreeing about the captain's disregard for protocols being disturbing was quite an act of trust.

"I'm keeping Dr. Pollard apprised of all our safety data. She'll be able to provide you with a complete report. I'll recommend against using the spore drive with civilians on board, but if Lorca's..." He paused, looking for a phrase that wasn't borderline insubordinate. "If the captain's mind is set, he'll likely write it off as me being overprotective of Jeanie."

"Your niece?" Saru asked.

Paul nodded.

"Any word on her parents?" Saru asked.

"Not yet," Paul replied quietly.

"If you need emergency leave let me know."

The turbolift doors opened.

"Do you have any idea where your family will go now?" Saru asked as they strode onto the deck.

"I'm not sure," Stamets said quietly. "My big brother is on Proxima. Maybe they'll go stay with him while they get their bearings."

"I see," Saru said. "I will have Lieutenant Detmer see if she can... shall we say fudge our course a little so your brother will be able to meet us at Starbase 20 on the way to drop off the refugees--once we get orders as to where we're taking them. I imagine they won't be the only ones who might like to see him."

Stamets raised his eyebrows. "The captain..."

"Is oddly... distant when it comes to warp courses," Saru said. "And he doesn't seem to bother to check star charts. It will slide right by him."

"Thank you," Stamets said as they reached the cargo bay.

They strode through the doors.

"Uncle Paul!"

Stamets had just enough time to brace himself and lean down as Jeanie barreled towards him. "Hey, sprite." He scooped her into his arms, wrapping them tightly around her and buried his face in her hair, kissing the top of her head. 

"I don't know where Mommy and Daddy are and Uncle Hugh says it's not safe to go look for them and..." Jeanie babbled into his chest.

"Breathe, sweetie," Paul said.

"Uncle Paul, what if we can't find them?"

Paul inhaled, biting back an "of course we'll find them." Stacy and Marvin had never lied to her, had never dodged a question, not even a hard one.

"Then I am going to take you to your Uncle Jack and you're going to live with him and Aunt Amy and your cousin Andy, and I will call you all of the time." He kissed her forehead. "Discovery's security team is doing everything they can to find everyone, so right now we need to hope really hard that they'll turn up okay?"

Jeanie nodded, face scrunched up and tears welling in her eyes. Paul gently cupped the back of her head, directing it to his shoulder.

"I'm right here, sweetie. Your Uncle Jack, Aunt Amy, Uncle Hugh, and I and even your grandma and grandpa are going to make sure you're okay."

Marvin had a brother, Paul thought awkwardly, blanking on his name. 

"What about Uncle Simon?"

"We're going to have to figure out how to call him, but I'm sure he'll..."

"Uncle Paul, did you guys come from Ursa Major?" Jeanie asked, suddenly leaning over his shoulder and touching his back.

Paul staggered a little to keep his balance. "Why..."

"I found this Ursa stink bug crawling on your uniform."

Jeanie shifted, showing him the purple bug with shiny spots on its thorax now crawling on her finger.

"That's a Proxima fruit beetle," Paul said.

"They don't have segmented thoraxes.... thorici?"

"Thoraxes is right," Paul supplied. "And no, they don't."

Jeanie looked up at him through her eyelashes. "This guy does."

Paul felt the blood rushing out of his face. Ursa stink bugs ate spores. If Jeanie was right... He squinted at the bug's thorax, but couldn't see anything.

Tilly rushed up, holding up her PADD in magnifier mode. "I'm sure it's just got..." Tilly stopped midsentence.

The damn thing had a segmented thorax.

Tilly reached into a pocket of her uniform and pulled out a specimen jar. Paul smiled proudly--that was his cadet! Always prepared for science!

Jeanie held her hand out to the lip before being asked. "In you go little bug."

"I seem to be missing something?" Saru asked.

"Cadet Tilly, call down to Burnham in engineering and have her start quarantine protocols, then get down there with that bug and double check the identification. I'll brief Commander Saru and then join you."

Tilly nodded, making a beeline for a comm pad on the walls.

"Casey and Emma are doing a puzzle that Ensign Grayson was handing out, can I help?" Jeanie asked.

Two seconds in charge of his niece and he'd already forgotten. _With her in his arms no less._ No wonder Stacy wanted her to go to Jack. Why hadn't that been the plan all along?

"Where are they?" Paul asked.

"Over there," Jeanie replied, pointing.

Paul set her down. "Okay. Just make sure Uncle Hugh knows where you are, okay?"

"Okay, Uncle Paul." Jeanie raced off, stopping near where Hugh was treating a patient.

"Mr. Stamets," Saru prompted.

"Not in here." Stamets led Saru out into the hallway. "This is classified."

Saru stopped just past the doors and turned around, arms crossed.

"If Jeanie's right--" Paul said, "and the kid reads about bugs the way I used to read about fungus, so she very well might be--there's a distinct possibility that Discovery's spore forest has been invaded by spore eating insects."

"So you invoked the quarantine protocol," Saru said.

"Right."

Saru uncrossed his arms. "And if the tests are positive?"

"We'll need to run a full level one decontamination procedure," Stamets replied.

"That takes three days." Was Saru _smiling_?

"Yes, sir."

"Well, at least you'll have solved our problem with regard to Captain Lorca wanting to use the spore drive with civilians on board."

Stamets snorted. "I think I liked that problem better. I should report this to the captain."

"Do what you need to in order to conserve the spore supply," Saru ordered. "I'll handle the captain."

"Yes, sir," Stamets said. While he was glad Saru had given him an order, he was worried that not even Saru could "handle" the captain. He headed to engineering.

* * *

Stamets arrived in engineering to find Tilly and Burnham frowning over a holographic projection of the bug and a dichotomous key which would allow them to identify the bug by assessing its physical traits. "So what's our conclusion?"

"You should maybe confirm for yourself sir." Tilly stepped aside to allow him access to the terminal. "If we're going to spend the next three days doing nothing but running decontamination protocols, a fourth opinion won't hurt."

Stamets looked around, not seeing anyone else. "You two and..."

"Your niece, sir," Tilly said.

Stamets smiled at Tilly. She was a good kid. "Do me a favor and tell her that you counted her identification in the tally the next time you see her; you'll make her week."

Tilly blinked, looking down at the deck. He could see a blush creeping up into her neck.

Okay, so maybe he was still a little spore-happy from the jump that brought them there.

Stamets started at the top of the dichotomous key, carefully checking each trait and working his way down to the species identification. Shit. "Am I a terrible uncle for wishing Jeanie was wrong?"

"No, sir," Tilly said, a little too brightly. "You'd have been a terrible uncle for _assuming_ she was, though."

"Specialist Burnham, do you see any reason to wait for DNA tests?" Stamets asked.

"Given the quality of DNA we're likely to get from one specimen and the captain's...." Burnham paused.

"Likelihood to make us run multiple tests?" Stamets suggested.

"Yes," Burnham said. "I'd suggest we go with the phenotypic findings and err on the side of caution."

"Agreed; let's start the decontamination procedures," Stamets said. "And we can all thank our lucky stars that after the first three hours the intensive work is automated."

"Bringing up the protocols now, sir," Tilly said.

It was going to be a long afternoon. Paul was grateful that Jeanie was safe with Hugh.

* * *

Culber blinked, glancing back at Cadet Perez who had taken over for Tilly.

The man smiled. "No, that's really it, sir. Everyone's taken care of."

The 'for now' was unspoken.

Culber scrubbed a hand over his face.

"Your niece is in that big group of kids Detmer is reading to." Perez gestured with the med-kit.

"Thanks, Cadet," Culber said. "I really appreciate the kid tracking on top of your other duties."

Cadet Perez shrugged. "She's been a delight compared to a couple of these people."

"They've been through hell," Culber pointed out firmly.

"Yes, sir, but so has she. Anything else you need, sir?"

Culber blinked. The nurses in sick bay had long since given up trying to remind him to dismiss them. "No. Thank you, Cadet, you're dismissed."

"Anytime, sir."

Hugh started for the group of kids, surprised that Jeanie had been enticed by whatever Detmer was reading. Until he drew closer.

"Samuel Whiskers has run up a bill as long as his tail," Detmer said in a high, squeaky voice, "he has had an ounce and three-quarters of snuff since October." She changed to a deeper voice, but spoke more quickly, with a lot of excitement. "What is seven pounds of butter at 1/3..."

Hugh sat down on the ground next to Jeanie, gently running a hand over her hair.

She leaned up towards him. 

Hugh leaned down so she could whisper.

"Can we wait until the story is over?" she whispered.

"Sure," he whispered back. He straightened up.

Jeanie scooted closer, and he draped a protective arm around her shoulders. Jeanie leaned into the crook of his arm. She was shaking a little.

Hugh didn't know how many kids were separated from their parents, but he suspected the one with family on board would be the first to get lost in the shuffle. He gave her a gentle squeeze, not sure how to reassure her when she was right to be worried.

* * *

They both clapped when Detmer finished the story, and Hugh spent a moment trying to work out if it was okay to just pick up a six year old and lug her bodily around the ship.

Jeanie looked up at him. "Is it time to go?"

"We should probably go fish your Uncle Paul out of engineering and drag him to the mess hall," Hugh replied, wondering if they should bully Tilly and Burnham into coming too.

"Okay." Jeanie wriggled away and used her hands to push herself to her feet.

Hugh stood, dusting the back of his uniform. (That was going straight into the 'fresher after dinner, but it had certainly seen worse than a little cargo bay floor dust.) He vaguely tried to remember at what age he'd stopped holding onto his parents' hands in unfamiliar places. There weren't any bugs on the ship--at least in general--so Jeanie was unlikely to go wandering off.

Jeanie held out her hand to him.

Well, if she _wanted_ to, he wasn't going to complain. He took her hand and led her towards the exit.

Jeanie looked around frowning. "They... they'd have come to find me if they found Mommy and Daddy right?"

Hugh's stomach twisted. "Yes."

Jeanie's grip tightened. "That's not good, is it?"

Hugh squeezed back. "I don't know." 

Detmer approached them.

"Do you know where we are in the evacuation?" Hugh asked.

'They're still checking people in," Detmer said. "They've had to redirect the rest of the evacuees to cargo bay two."

Jeanie sighed with relief.

Detmer leaned down. "You're Lieutenant Stamets' niece right?"

Jeanie nodded. "Uncle Hugh's niece too."

"Of course." Detmer said. "Lieutenant Tyler made sure everyone knows your parents' names and to find one of your uncles when we turn them up. Don't worry; we'll find you as soon as we know something, okay?"

Jeanie nodded. "Thank you."

Hugh would need to remember to thank Tyler. He was leery of anyone Lorca trusted, but that was going above and beyond for a crew mate.

"Are you heading to the mess hall?" Detmer asked.

"By way of engineering," Hugh replied.

"I'll walk with you to the turbolift," Detmer said.

She fell into step as Hugh led Jeanie towards the doors. Hugh wondered if Jeanie was too big to carry these days: her grip was so tight that his hand was falling asleep.

"Did you like the story?" Detmer asked Jeanie.

"That's always been one of my favorites," Jeanie said. "I really liked the voices you did."

"Oh, thank you," Detmer said. "My little sister used to love them too. Until she got too big to read to."

Jeanie blinked at her, sending Hugh a confused look.

Hugh wrapped an arm around her as they got to the turbolift doors. "Not everyone likes to keep reading to people once they're old enough to read to themselves."

Detmer raised an eyebrow at him.

Hugh had been a little surprised when he'd learned that about the Stamets family too, but sometimes it was nice to fall asleep to the sound of Paul's voice reading.

The turbolift doors opened to reveal Tilly, Burnham, and Paul, who had an unfamiliar satchel hanging from his shoulder.

"Mess hall?" Paul asked.

"Uncle Hugh said we were going to have to go dig you out of engineering." Jeanie dropped Hugh's hand and ran to Paul's waiting arms.

Paul hugged her tight. "Well, he usually does, but he forgot my favorite niece was visiting."

"Uncle Paul, I'm your _only_ niece." Jeanie rolled her eyes.

"Exactly why you're my favorite." Paul tapped Jeanie's nose with his index finger.

Hugh got onto the turbolift, Detmer at his heels.

"Mess hall," Tilly told the turbolift.

"Where'd that come from?" Hugh asked his partner, indicating the satchel, then brushing a gentle finger along Paul's arm.

"Cadet Decker is in charge of supplies for our passengers and dropped some things off for Jeanie." Paul ruffled her hair. "I suspect that she got a little fancier than she did for everyone else."

Jeanie blushed, tucking her face into Paul's side.

Was it possible to die of cute? Hugh was going to die of cute.

He ruffled Jeanie's hair. "You'd think we didn't have a replicator in our quarters."

"Might've been someone else," Detmer said. "Commander Saru informed me that he had more volunteers than things for them to do."

"At least someone hasn't forgotten why we're supposed to be out here," Paul said darkly.

Hugh reached out and wrapped an arm around Paul's shoulders, squeezing him in a one-armed hug.

Paul smiled at him tentatively, but it didn't reach his eyes. Hugh couldn't blame him--Paul and Stacy had been close as kids; he was probably very worried about his big sister.

* * *

Jeanie held tightly to Paul's hand as he and Hugh led her into the mess hall. Paul couldn't help but wonder what his sister had been feeding the kid--she had a grip like a vice.

"What do you want to eat, kiddo?" Paul asked Jeanie when it was their turn at the food synthesizers. "And don't tell me chocolate anything, your mom is still giving me grief about the last time Hugh and I took you out to breakfast and let you get chocolate chip pancakes."

Jeanie shifted uncomfortably. "An apple and peanut butter, please."

Paul squatted so that he could look her in the eye. "Jeanie, that's not dinner."

"I'm not hungry, Uncle Paul." Jeanie stared at her shoes.

Paul frowned, an idea dawning. "You want to help me with an experiment?"

"Doctor Culber," Tilly hissed.

"Stand down," Hugh told her; Paul could hear the wink in his voice.

Jeanie looked up at him, her eyes widening. "Okay?"

"Computer, personal recipe Stamets 47." Oh, except. "Adjust the portion for a six year old."

Jeanie's eyes rolled towards him and narrowed.

A plate of steaming brisket, potatoes, and carrots, all drowning in Au Jus appeared.

Jeanie tilted her head.

Paul handed her the tray. "I've been trying to recreate your grandmother's recipe. Give it a try and see what you think."

"Okay, Uncle Paul."

Tilly had her hand up to her mouth, likely hiding a smile, and Hugh was giving him heart eyes and smiling fondly.

Paul smiled back and ordered another plate of the brisket for himself and two glasses of water. 

He lead Jeanie to an empty table and set down his tray. Jeanie set her tray down next to his and turned to clamber into the adult-sized chair. Paul transferred the second water glass to her tray. Hugh followed a moment later, stepping around Jeanie to sit on Paul's other side.

"Uncle Hugh?" Jeanie said quietly.

"Hmm?"

Jeanie stared at the table. "Can you please sit next to me too?"

Hugh's eyebrows shot up in surprise. "Of course, sweetie."

Paul barely managed to suppress a worried frown--Jeanie wasn't usually a clingy child, and had always happily sat next to whoever. (Not to mention wandering off while planetside when distracted by a bug.)

Hugh set his tray next to Jeanie, then ran a gentle hand over her hair. He caught Paul's eyes, narrowing his own slightly. Paul nodded in agreement. They had a scared kid on their hands.

Burnham and Tilly hovered nearby.

"Are you two going to join us or just gawk?" Paul asked.

Hugh shot him "you're being rude again" glare #3, but it was tinged with a hint of relief.

"That was mean, Uncle Paul," Jeanie said. "You should apologize."

Tilly bowed her head in a vain attempt to hide her smile. Burnham raised an eyebrow--amusement was the thing she had the easiest time hiding, but the eyebrow was a dead giveaway.

Paul glanced at Hugh, but his partner was laughing his ass off, the fink. Well, he was outnumbered, but when Stacy turned up (please let her turn up) she was going to _owe_ him one.

"I'm sorry. I meant 'you're still welcome to join us.'" He gestured at the empty seats.

Tilly set her tray down and sat, Burnham just behind her.

"Jeanie, these are two members of my team, Cadet Tilly and Specialist Burnham. Ladies, this is my niece Jeanie."

"Hi," Jeanie said, her eyes on her plate. She picked up her knife and fork and started methodically cutting her brisket.

"Hi," Tilly said gently. "Can I ask you a question?"

Jeanie looked up, and nodded.

"How'd you get so good at identifying bugs when you live on a space station?" Tilly asked. "You identified that Ursa stink bug without so much as a magnifying glass."

"My teacher lets me do an independent study project identifying bugs from the air filters." Jeanie started rearranging the pieces of meat on her plate. "It's fun. And kind of hard. A lot of them get squished."

"Ew." Tilly pulled a face.

Jeanie started stacking her potatoes with her fork. "It is kinda gross, but also kinda cool."

Had she even taken a bite?

"So what do you think, Jeanie, is that brisket close to your grandma's?" Paul asked--partly to steer the talk to something more akin to dinner conversation and partly to get her to eat something.

Jeanie stabbed one of the small pieces of brisket and took a bite. She chewed it thoughtfully, then swallowed. "It tastes like the time Grandma forgot the garlic."

Paul blinked at her. "Does it?"

Hugh chuckled.

"Oh, don't start," Paul said.

"Burnham, has anyone in the lab ever told you the story of the time Paul tried to cook macaroni in his and Straal's first apartment in grad school?" Hugh asked, a mischievous grin on his face.

Jeanie giggled.

Oh, good grief.

"No," Burnham said. She took a bite of salad.

"Because they're too professional to embarrass their boss," Paul said. Seriously? Paul wished Straal was alive so he could kill him again for ever telling Hugh that story.

No. Hit him. Then argue with him. He missed arguing with Straal.

Jeanie took another bite, looking at Hugh expectantly.

Okay, so if Hugh had the kid eating, he was just going to have to put up with this.

Hugh leaned forward, setting his fork down. "Have you ever cooked pasta, Burnham?"

"Once or twice," she replied.

"So you know you're supposed to drain it after it boils for awhile, right?" Hugh grinned.

Burnham blinked at Hugh, her face impassive. "Yes."

"See, Paul thought you were supposed to cook it until all the water was absorbed like rice." Hugh was chuckling through the story. It would be cute if he weren't embarrassing Paul.

Tilly snorted, and had to reach for a napkin to keep her pasta from going everywhere.

"Except he wasn't paying close enough attention, so Straal smells this burning..."

Jeanie giggled, and started digging into her dinner in earnest.

Okay, that was worth losing a little face in front of Burnham. Maybe Hugh knew what he was doing.

* * *

Tilly was telling Jeanie a story about her first lab at the academy when Lorca walked into the mess hall. His eyes locked with Paul's, and he just _knew_ that Saru hadn't managed to square things with the captain.

Jeanie's plate was clean, and Tilly hadn't touched the scraps on her own plate. Hugh was clearly still working on his dinner.

"Tilly, can I ask you a favor?" Paul said.

"Lieutenant?"

"Would you mind showing Jeanie the observation lounge?" Paul asked. "Captain Lorca is on his way over.'

"Sure thing," Tilly said, glancing behind her. "You want to see the observation lounge, Jeanie?"

Jeanie rolled her eyes. "I've seen the station from outside loads of times, but Uncle Paul doesn't want me to meet the captain, so that's okay."

Hugh smirked at him. Like it was somehow Paul's fault that Jeanie had gotten the Stamets genius.

Jeanie got up to follow Tilly.

"Oh, and Cadet?" Paul said. 

Tilly turned. "Yes, sir?"

"Jeanie's cousin has been looking forward to teaching her certain words since she was born, don't spoil his fun, okay?"

Paul could see Hugh hiding his laughter out of the corner of his eye.

"Yes sir." Tilly smiled.

Hugh waited until Jeanie and Tilly had left and then turned to Paul. "Did you just order Tilly not to teach our niece to swear?"

Burnham looked at him. "Apparently, the cadet thinks our work is, and I quote, 'really fuckin' coo-'" Burnham thankfully cut off as Paul and Hugh stood when the Captain approached. She stood as well.

"I see you sent the little brat who put my spore drive out of commission out of the room," Lorca said.

"With all due respect captain--" which was none at all, but protocol was a thing, and breaking it wasn't worth the fight with Hugh, "we did confirm her identification. The computer indicates a level one infestation, and we followed exact protocols. I was going to inform you myself, but Saru ordered me to take care of the spore forest. I'll remind you that even a level two infestation requires a two week decontamination protocol while the level one protocol only requires three days. You should _thank her_ for helping us catch it early."

Lorca glared. "I hope you won't be letting her continued presence on board distract you from your duties on the way to Proxima Centauri."

Lorca was an asshole. Saru, however, was clearly the best.

"I'll be sure to keep you apprised of the decontamination progress, sir."

"Three days for the decontamination protocol?" Lorca asked.

"Yes, sir," Paul said. "Just like it said in the protocol briefing you approved when I brought the project on board."

"Fine." Lorca stormed off.

Paul met Hugh's eyes, not sure exactly what to ask him for. Hugh stepped over, and squeezed his shoulder. "He's a cranky old man."

Burnham smirked. "The captain does seem more concerned with the military applications of the spore drive than scientific curiosity."

"Or safety," Paul said with a sigh. "We have, what a few hundred civilians on board? I counted at least ten kids in the cargo bay for the brief time I was there."

"I treated more than that--and we don't even know for sure if long term exposure is safe for adults. Everyone here signed up--the civilians not so much." Hugh wrapped an arm around Paul's shoulder and kissed the side of his head. "Come on, let's finish so we can rescue Jeanie from Tilly."

"More like the other way around." Paul sat back down.

"She did seem pretty enamored with Tilly's tales about the Academy." Burnham sat and picked up her fork, digging into her pasta.

"I don't like it," Paul said. "Bad enough I practically got drafted..."

Hugh rubbed the bridge of his nose. "There are worse..."

"Not for xenoentymology," Paul said. "Starfleet prioritizes more practical sciences--it would be hard to get manpower and resources. She's better off joining a civilian planetary survey team."

"That's a pretty nomadic lifestyle," Hugh pointed out. "If all your equipment is on a science vessel, then it doesn't matter if you're moving locations every few weeks. Starfleet science division..."

"Wasn't interested in my research until Straal and I realized it had star drive applications," Paul said. "Jeanie's work likely wouldn't be that."

"Maybe she could bioengineer a sentient tardigrade," Burnham joked.

Paul sighed. "Just because you two have drunk the Kool Aid doesn't mean Jeanie has to."

"Yes, well, by the time she needs to make a decision, the war will be over, and maybe she'll change her mind," Hugh said.

Paul frowned.

Hugh reached out and squeezed his shoulder. "There's plenty of time for Jeanie to figure things out for herself. Come on, let's finish eating and go rescue Tilly."

* * *

Ten minutes later, just after Paul and Hugh stepped off of the turbolift, the ship's vibration increased.

"We're getting underway." Paul felt the blood drain from his face.

Hugh reached out and took his hand. "Let's find Jeanie."

He let Hugh lead him to the observation lounge.

Jeanie and Tilly turned at the door and Jeanie ran to them. "We went to warp."

Paul glanced at the window and saw the telltale starlines. "Yeah. We did."

Jeanie frowned. "That's not good."

Paul leaned down and picked her up, giving her a tight hug.

"Stamets," Lieutenant Tyler said from the doorway. "Burnham told me I could find you up here."

Paul frowned, adjusting Jeanie so she was settled on his hip. "Do you have news?"

Tyler glanced at Tilly.

"I, um, think I should go study..." Tilly darted for the door.

Tyler ran a nervous hand through his hair. "Cadet, maybe you should take our guest..."

"You're going to tell Uncle Paul that Mommy and Daddy are dead now, aren't you?" Jeanie asked quietly.

Tyler's eyebrows shot up and he glanced at Paul.

Paul gave her a tight squeeze. "She's going to have to hear it eventually, Lieutenant. Might as well be from you." Better Tyler than him, anyway.

Paul saw Tilly leave out of the corner of his eye.

Tyler sighed. "Yes, I am. Apparently after your mother made you hide, she and your father left your quarters and made their way to the starboard lounge." He paused, taking a deep breath.

Jeanie shifted, clinging more tightly to Paul. He hugged back. He didn't know where this was going either.

"They found a group of people huddled in the back, and were helping the to evacuate when the Klingons found them." Tyler took a step closer.

Jeanie tucked her head into the crook of Paul's neck. Paul tightened his grip. "Do you want Uncle Hugh to take you back to our quarters, sweetie? I can talk to Lieutenant Tyler by myself."

Jeanie shook her head.

Tyler took a step back. "I'll spare you both the gory details, but the short version is that they held the line while 20 other people, many of them children, escaped. For whatever it's worth, they died as heroes."

Paul could feel tears welling in his eyes. "Thank you," he choked out.

Hugh wrapped an arm around his shoulders. "Thank you, Tyler. I'm going to get these two back to our quarters."

"My condolences," Tyler said quietly.

Paul let Hugh guide him, still carrying Jeanie, to the turbolift.

* * *


	2. Chapter 2

Hugh gently steered Paul towards the turbolift, hoping Lieutenant Tyler would forgive the abrupt departure.

Actually, the man had looked wholly uncomfortable having to inform a small child of her parents' death. (Although, to be fair, Hugh half suspected that Paul had only allowed Tyler to continue so that he wouldn't have to do it.)

Jeanie's face was still tucked into Paul's shoulder, but she was still enough that Hugh didn't think she was sobbing.

In the turbolift, Paul stood pretty still, leaning into Hugh's touch, but otherwise not moving. First Straal, now Stacy. Poor guy.

Paul started moving on his own once the turbolift doors opened, pausing only long enough to allow Hugh to palm open the door to their quarters.

"Incoming message from Stamets, Jack."

"Answer." Paul sounded far away.

"Paul? Hugh? Is someone there?"

Hugh grabbed the PADD as Paul spilled onto the couch. (Jeanie gave a little squeak of protest and then adjusted herself so she was sitting on his lap.)

"Hi, Jack. Sorry, we just walked in." Hugh sat next to Paul, adjusting the PADD so that Jeanie and Paul were also visible.

"Oh my G-d, is that Jeanie? We heard about the attack on the news; is Discovery there?"

"Hi, Uncle Jack," Jeanie muttered into Paul's shirt.

"We were on rescue detail." Paul stroked Jeanie's hair absently. "I couldn't tell you anything until the evacuation was complete--Jeanie found Hugh hours ago."

"Well, thank G-d," Jack said. "How are you doing, kiddo?"

Jeanie turned her face, revealing the streaks of tears. Paul's uniform tunic had a corresponding wet spot.

"I take it there's bad news too," Jack said softly.

"St... Stacy and Marvin..." Paul stammered.

Jeanie whimpered, and Paul just buried his face in her hair.

"They didn't make it off the station," Hugh said quietly. "They made sure a lot of other people did, though."

"Stacy just _would_ , wouldn't she?" Jack asked quietly.

Paul raised his head. "Remember when she tried to beat up your bullies?"

Jack snorted. "Yeah, and we used to think _that_ didn't go well. Where should I meet you?"

"We'll be at Proxima..." Paul paused. "Computer, what's our approximate ETA to Proxima?"

"72 hours."

"You get that?" Paul asked.

Jack nodded. "Yeah, so where I should I meet you?"

"We have to beam down anyway, we'll just come to you." Paul smoothed Jeanie's hair. "Home delivered niece, slightly worn out."

Jeanie just looked from Paul to Jack, then to Hugh.

"Have you talked to Mom and Dad?" Jack asked.

Paul shook his head. "We found Jeanie and things got really busy; we just heard, and then you called."

"I'll let you call Mom first?" Jack asked.

"That's probably wise." Paul leaned his head back against the couch.

Jeanie squirmed. "Where's the bathroom?"

"Right through there." Hugh pointed. "Be careful, I think I left the toilet seat up this morning."

"Okay." Jeanie went into the bathroom, closing the door behind her.

"See if you can get me her clothing sizes," Jack said. "Did she get anything from their quarters?"

Hugh shook his head. "Not so much as that ratty stuffed butterfly she was always dragging around. Someone replicated her a couple of things..." He reached into the satchel. "Pajamas--huh, they look like standard issue, an extra pair of jeans, a sweater, some underwear, sweat pants, and..." His jaw dropped.

"What?" Paul asked.

Hugh held up a small Disco t-shirt. "Did you know we could make these in kids sizes?"

"What's Andy's size?" Paul asked Jack. "The Klingon war is bad enough--we don't want to start another one."

"I'll send it to you," Jack said, chuckling, "but if you can't get him one, I'm sure he'll understand. Send me Jeanie's sizes and I'll make sure we have some more things for her."

The door to the bathroom opened. "Um, I can't reach the sink."

"I'll be right there," Hugh said, before Paul took the opportunity to duck out of talking to his brother.

"Step stool," Jack said absently.

Hugh chuckled. "I'll see if there's a pattern in the replicator once I help her with this." He stood and went to the bathroom. He turned on the sonic faucet, then boosted Jeanie up.

She rubbed her hands under it, humming twinkle twinkle little star for the timing. 

"Thank you," she whispered as Hugh set her down.

It seemed ridiculous to ask her if she was okay.

"How are you holding up, kiddo?" he asked gently.

She whispered something unintelligible. 

Hugh bent his knees to get down to her level. "I didn't quite catch that."

"I'm scared, Uncle Hugh," Jeanie whispered.

"I bet," he said softly. He ran a hand over her hair. "You're going to have a new school, a new home, and your parents aren't going to be there for it, but you know what?"

Jeanie shook her head.

Hugh reached out, pulling her into a one-armed hug. "Your Uncle Jack, Aunt Amy, and even your cousin Andy will be right there for you, and if you want to talk to me, Uncle Paul, or your grandparents, we're just a subspace call away."

Jeanie rubbed at her eyes.

Hugh pulled her into his arms, lifting her up. "It's okay to cry, sweetie."

Jeanie buried her face in Hugh's shoulder and he carried her back to the living room.

"I'm debating sending Hugh off on an errand with Jeanie while I call..."

"No," Jack said. "I know it's tempting to protect her from all this, but if she sees you grieving it'll be easier for her to figure out how to handle her own grief."

Hugh squeezed Jeanie tightly and he could feel her tears soaking into his uniform coat, but she didn't really respond. He hoped that meant she hadn't heard.

Paul scrubbed a hand over his face.

"You're looking for a graceful exit so you can get telling Mom over with aren't you?" Jack asked.

Paul flushed, the blush creeping from the end of his uniform to his hairline. "Maybe?"

"Good luck, fungus face. Call me back if you need to. Jeanie, mind your uncles, okay?"

Jeanie nodded.

"Bye," Jack said. The screen went black.

Paul rolled his eyes. "Bit of advice about older siblings, Jeanie, never let them give you a nickname; it will haunt you for the rest of your life."

"Mommy sometimes calls you mushroom head," Jeanie said into Hugh's shoulder.

"That is a great example," Paul said, "and the weird part is if she came back but only ever called me that again, I'd probably take that deal."

Jeanie sniffled a little.

"Jeanie, sweetie, can I hand you to your Uncle Paul so I can figure out if we can replicate a step stool for you?"

"Okay."

She unwound from his neck and let him deposit her in Paul's lap.

Hugh stood, opening the replicator patterns. He could at least give Paul a semblance of privacy while he made this call. 

* * *

"You want to talk to Grandma?" Paul asked. 

Jeanie nodded. 

Paul sighed. "Computer, open personal subspace contacts and place a personal call to Stamets, Tali."

"Connecting," the computer replied.

The UFP Communications logo filled the PADD screen.

Paul's mother's face popped into view. Her silver hair was messy, Paul was pretty sure the bags under her eyes were twice the size they'd been when they'd talked a few days prior. 

"Paul, the Klingons attacked Omicron Delta and.... Is that Jeanie?"

Jeanie turned around. "Grandma, Mommy made me hide and then Klingons came in our quarters..."

WHAT?

"and then they were gone and a mean man came and dragged me to a shuttle and wouldn't let me look for Mommy and Daddy and he wouldn't tell me where we were going...."

Tyler was going to hear about that.

"Sweetie, maybe let me..."

"It's okay, Paul, let her get it out," his mom said.

Except for the part where she was going to ramble out that her middle child was dead and...

Except his mother was already holding back tears. She knew. How...

Because Stacy and Marvin would be cuddling the life out of Jeanie right now and...

And Paul's face was kind of wet.

"...and then someone on the ship found us and said... and said..." Jeanie couldn't get the words out, she buried her face in Paul's chest instead.

"Stacy and Marvin died on the station," Paul said, quietly, repeating the story Tyler had told them earlier. His voice only broke twice.

Okay, three times.

"Grandma, I'm scared," Jeanie added, turning around to face the screen.

Paul kissed the top of her head. 

"Give her a kiss from me too, Paul."

Paul did, vaguely remembering conversations like this when his mother was away for conferences when he was a kid.

"I know you're scared, sweetie," his mother said. "It's a scary thing. You're going to have a new home, and a new school, and your parents won't be there, but your Uncle Jack will be there. And your Aunt Amy will be there, and even your cousin Andy will be there. Your grandfather and I are only a subspace call away--and your Uncle Paul and Uncle Hugh too."

"That's what Uncle Hugh said," Jeanie said.

Paul could kiss him. 

"You should listen to your Uncle Hugh; he's very smart," his mother said.

Paul smiled.

"Where are you meeting Jack?" his mother asked.

"Uncle Paul said he was delivering me like a package," Jeanie said.

"It was a joke, sweetie," Paul said. "And your Uncle Hugh and I are way too busy to deliver just any old package--we have the mail depot for that. You, however, are more important than any package, so your Uncle Hugh and I are delivering you in person."

"How did you pull that off?" his mom asked.

"We have the killer combination of the most thoughtful first officer and the most hyper-focused captain in the fleet," Paul said. "I think Saru pulled a few strings."

"You should get him a bottle of wine or something."

"Kelpiens can't drink alcohol," Hugh said, joining Paul on the couch. "Blueberries are in season on Proxima though, and he loves the things."

Paul leaned over, brushing a kiss across Hugh's lips.

Hugh stared. "Not that I'm complaining, but what was that for?"

"To thank you for being a good uncle and a supportive partner," Paul said.

Hugh just blinked at him.

He'd been too busy being mad at Lorca and worrying about mushrooms again, hadn't he?

Jeanie leaned over and kissed Hugh's cheek, then yawned, snuggling into Paul's side.

Was it possible to die of cute? Paul was going to die of cute.

He kissed the top of her head. "Do we need to get you ready for bed?"

He looked at his mom, wondering if there was a way to ask her if Jeanie was too old to sleep between him and Hugh in their bed. If he flat out asked, Jeanie would sulk if the answer was that she was too old.

"Do you have an air mattress replicator pattern?" his mom asked. "Jeanie may find that more comfortable than the couch."

Paul, as he often did, boggled at his mom's ability to appear to read his mind.

"I'll check," Hugh said, standing up.

Jeanie yawned again.

"I'll tell your dad and he'll let your uncle know," his mom said. "I can take point on letting everyone else know if you want?"

"Yes, please," Paul said.

"When are you three getting to Proxima?"

"About three days," Paul said. "Hugh and I may only be able to stay a couple of hours though."

Jeanie made a huffing sound.

"Hey, you get to stay with us until then." Hugh reached out, stroking Jeanie's hair.

"Well, hopefully I'll see you soon. Take care of each other, boys."

The screen went dark.

"An air mattress would take a couple hours to replicate," Hugh said, "and I doubt it would be quiet."

The door chime sounded.

Hugh's nose wrinkled.

Paul shrugged; he wasn't expecting anyone either. "Come in." 

The door opened to reveal Cadet Tilly with a bunch of billowing fabric. "It's kind of a long story, but I brought a hypoallergenic air mattress and these couches aren't that comfortable for sleeping even if you're as tiny as Jeanie and I thought that maybe you'd like to borrow it and..."

"Are you psychic, Cadet?" Paul asked. "We were just talking about replicating an air mattress."

"Thank you, Tilly," Hugh added, crossing to room to relieve her of the pile of fabric. "That was very thoughtful."

"Thank you," Jeanie added.

Paul was suddenly cognizant that he and Jeanie were still seated. "Cadet, where are my manners, I'll..."

"No need, Lieutenant, I was just dropping off the air mattress," Tilly said. "I'll see you tomorrow... no wait, you're probably on bereavement leave, I'll see you when you get back..."

And with that, Tilly double timed it out of their quarters.

"Is Cadet Tilly scared of you, Uncle Paul?" Jeanie asked once the door shut.

"No, Cadet Tilly is sometimes scared that she can't control what comes out of her mouth when she gets nervous," Hugh said.

Paul suspected it was a little bit of both, but...

"Oh," Jeanie said. "I get that way sometimes too."

"Really?" Hugh squatted down so he was at her eye level. "Wouldn't know it from how quiet you've been lately."

Jeanie shrugged. Then yawned again.

"Come on, into the bathroom with you," Hugh said. "We all need to get ready for bed."

* * *

Paul sank onto the bed next to Hugh, rubbing the back of his neck.

Hugh reached up, scooted Paul's hand away, and gently started to work at the knot that always formed there. His heart wrenched a little. "It's tighter than usual."

"Been a rough day," Paul said. "My big sister died, we narrowly escaped losing the spore forest, and... I had to tell my mom that my big sister died."

Hugh dropped his hand to Paul's shoulder, pulling him into a one-armed hug.

Paul leaned into the touch, his body heat transmitting through the thin material of their red Starfleet sleepwear. "Part of me wants to fall apart, but I'm not sure it would do Jeanie any good."

Hugh rested his nose against Paul's forehead. "You can't keep things bottled up either. She's going to learn..."

"I know, I know," Paul said, "but the scariest thing about my grandma dying when I was ten was my mom crying and...."

Hugh brushed his lips against Paul's softly, leaving it at a gentle peck.

Paul leaned into the hug a little more.

The door to the bathroom slid open.

"Uncle Paul, Uncle Hugh, look we match!" Jeanie exclaimed.

Hugh grinned. He'd noticed the pajamas Cadet Dekker had provided were the same shade of burgundy as the Discovery issue ones, but not the embroidered Starfleet insignia on the chest. Jeanie was basically wearing tiny Discovery sleepwear.

"We all do," Paul said. "You're all set for if there's a ship's emergency that needs to be dealt with in the middle of the night and there's no time to change clothes."

Jeanie's eyes widened.

"What, did you think we dressed in matching sleepwear for the heck of it?"

Jeanie shrugged.

Paul chuckled as he stood, lifting Jeanie into his arms. "Come on, kiddo, let's brush our teeth."

Hugh followed them into the bathroom just as Paul set Jeanie down on the stepstool he'd replicated a little earlier.

"Are you high enough to see what you're doing?" Hugh asked Jeanie as he handed her her toothbrush.

Jeanie nodded, accepting the toothbrush. She started brushing her teeth.

Hugh vaguely remembered Stacy having to coach Jeanie through it the last time they were visiting together--was it really two years ago?

No, it wasn't the last time they'd visited--they'd all met on Proxima, but had been staying in separate rooms.

Paul turned off his toothbrush. "Hugh? You okay?"

"Woolgathering," Hugh replied, starting to brush his teeth.

"Like the sweaters?" Jeanie asked around her toothbrush.

"Uncle Hugh just means he's thinking deep thoughts." Paul reached out to tweak Jeanie's nose.

Hugh smirked. His partner and Jeanie brushing their teeth in matching outfits was ridiculously adorable, and Hugh didn't know whether to thank Cadet Dekker or tell her off for being ridiculously sappy. Possibly both.

They finished brushing their teeth and Paul settled Jeanie on Tilly's air mattress, tucking the extra blankets around her. Hugh, in the meantime, flopped onto his own bed, PADD in hand.

However, listening to his partner interact with their niece was more interesting.

"You sure you don't want us to replicate you a new butterfly?"

"It wouldn't be Polka Dots," Jeanie said, sadly.

Jeanie was probably taking the loss of Polka Dots slightly better than Paul was, to be honest. Paul had found the butterfly in a tiny store full of kitsch on Deneva when shopping for a baby shower present for his sister. That it had become Jeanie's favorite toy had been a point of pride for him.

Paul grabbed his PADD. "You want a story?"

"Daddy was reading me Harry Potter."

"Which book?"

"Harry was going into the Triwizard Maze."

Hugh winced.

"Let's find you something else, kiddo," Paul said.

"But..."

"Trust me on this one, okay Jeanie? You might want to wait awhile before finishing that book."

"Please, Uncle Paul."

Hugh glanced up over his PADD to see Jeanie looking up at Paul, her eyes wide and her mouth pouting. That kid had one _lethal_ set of puppy dog eyes. (It was how they'd ended up letting her have chocolate chip pancakes that one time, and Stacy had never let them forget it.)

"No, Jeanie." Paul gently batted a strand of hair out of her eyes. "Either you can pick something else or I will."

Jeanie flopped back on the air mattress, defeated.

"Okay," Paul said. "My choice then."

* * *

Paul was three chapters in when he looked down and realized Jeanie was sound asleep. He slid slowly off the air mattress, watching for any sign she was waking up, but she just settled a little deeper into the nest of covers. He reached out, smoothing the covers and Jeanie's hair, then stood, and crossed the room to the bed.

"Hey," Hugh said as Paul climbed into the bed.

"Hey." Paul was still looking over at Jeanie's sleeping form.

"How are you doing?"

"Depends. How would you classify debating dropping out of Starfleet and trying to find a planet in need of an astromycologist and a brilliant xenophysician?"

Hugh reached out, resting his hand on Paul's cheek. "I'm not anxious to hand her over to Jack either but..."

"Before I got dragged into Starfleet she was supposed to come to us."

"I know."

"If I try it, Lorca's going to be a..."

"Cornwell would override him," Hugh said. "But that conversation we with Stacy, Marvin, Jack, and Amy after you enlisted still stands. We'd only end up resenting her if we gave up our careers for her; Jack and Amy aren't in Starfleet, and Andy's older now--Jeanie's less likely to get lost in the shuffle."

Paul sighed. "I know, I know it's just..."

"Maybe after the war we should revisit our decision not to have kids?" Hugh asked.

"No. I don't want some random kid. I just want Jeanie to be okay."

"You really think she won't be okay with Jack?"

"No, she'll be fine." Paul sighed, leaning into Hugh's shoulder. "I just want to keep her here with us."

Hugh wrapped his arms around Paul, pulling him into a tight hug. "I kind of want to too, but it's not _safe_. It's not like Lorca can just separate the saucer section with the living quarters on it and then go charging into battle with the star drive."

"It would mess up the spore drive anyway," Paul said.

"I still think you just made the saucer section spin like that for the aesthetic," Hugh teased.

"It was Straal's idea," Paul said sadly.

Hugh shifted a little, gently tugging on Paul's side. Recognizing the offer for what it was, Paul turned onto his side with his back to Hugh. Hugh wrapped Paul in his arms, moulded his body to Paul's back, and kissed his cheek. "You've had a rough couple months."

"Yeah," Paul said, reaching for and squeezing Hugh's hand. He yawned.

"Get some sleep; I'm right here."

Paul let himself drift off to sleep to the steady beating of his partner's heart against his back.

* * *

Hugh drifted awake, nestling into Paul's shoulder with the intent of falling back to sleep.

"Mommy, no!"

Hugh lifted his head to see Jeanie thrashing on the air mattress. Nightmare. He untangled himself from Paul, turning around and sliding out of the bed. He shook her gently. "Jeanie, wake up, sweetie."

"The Klingons."

"They're gone," he said. "Wake up, Jeanie, you're on Discovery in Uncle Paul's and my quarters, you're safe."

Jeanie's eyes opened and she blinked. "Uncle Hugh?"

"C'mere," he replied, holding his arms open invitingly.

Jeanie fell into them. "The Klingons were here and they were... were..." She dissolved into sobs.

Hugh pulled her into his lap, rocking her gently. "You're safe here, kiddo. No Klingons are getting anywhere near Discovery."

"I want Mommy."

The wind knocked out of Hugh's sails, and for a moment he debated waking Paul on general principles. "I bet." He dropped a kiss on the top of her forehead. "I sometimes still just want my mom." He ran a gentle hand over her hair. His mother was still alive and well, and it was hard to imagine losing her, even in his forties. Jeanie was six. "The important thing is to remember that I love you, and your Uncle Paul loves you, and your Uncle Jack and your Aunt Amy, and your grandma and grandpa, who I'm pretty sure are coming all the way from Earth just to give you a great big hug."

Jeanie sniffled, clinging to him. Then she squirmed.

"You want to let go already?" he asked.

"Bathroom," Jeanie whispered.

Hugh let go. "Okay, kiddo, I'll be right here when you get back."

The door slid closed behind her.

"Do you want backup or should I pretend she didn't wake me up?" Paul asked sleepily.

Hugh ran a hand through his hair. "I don't know."

Paul stood and joined Hugh on the air mattress, wrapping an arm around his shoulders. "This just sucks."

Hugh leaned his head on Paul's shoulder. "It does. I just want to fix it for her but..."

"Yeah." Paul said.

The door slid open and Jeanie emerged.

"Oh, no, did I wake you up, Uncle Paul?"

Paul beckoned her to them. "Don't worry about it, kiddo."

Jeanie clambered up, balancing so she was on Hugh's right leg and Paul's left.

Paul kissed the top of her head. "I love you, sprite."

"I love you too, Uncle Paul."

She snuggled against him, nearly kicking Hugh in the groin to climb fully into Paul's lap.

"I still want my mommy," Jeanie said after a couple of minutes.

"Me too," Paul said quietly. "Me too."

* * *

Paul was vaguely aware of pressure on his lips. 

"Come on, baby, time to get up," Hugh said.

"I'm on leave," Stamets muttered.

"Jogging raises the endorphins, which you really need," Hugh said.

"Can think of better ways to do that," Paul murmured reaching out for Hugh, but catching only air.

"Like what, Uncle Paul?" 

Paul startled awake and looked at Hugh, giving him a mortified glare. Hugh shrugged and tossed him a shit eating grin.

"Your Uncle Paul wants a hug," Hugh said. "Why don't you give him one and then go get dressed." Hugh was already dressed, in exercise pants and a black Disco shirt.

Jeanie ran up to the bed, climbed on it, hugged Paul tightly, then hopped off, ran to the couch, grabbed a pile of clothes and ran into the bathroom.

She had way too much energy for this early in the morning. Especially given her interrupted sleep of the night before.

Hugh dumped Paul's Disco t-shirt and exercise pants on the bed. "Get dressed, I'll guard the bathroom door so we don't traumatize the little one with your manly physique."

Paul pulled off his shirt. "A little more warning next time; I almost traumatized her way worse than that. And I think you're the only one who would call my physique manly."

"Does anyone else matter?"

"No, dear doctor, definitely not." Paul pulled his Disco shirt over his head. "We are feeding that poor kid before we drag her all over the ship, right?" He shucked his sleep pants.

"I was thinking once around the saucer section would be plenty for her, but yes," Hugh said. "You can feed your coffee habit."

"That too." Paul pulled his exercise pants over his underwear. "Socks," he muttered.

Hugh left the door and sat on the couch. "How long before we worry that she got distracted?"

"By what? There's no bugs on Discovery."

"There were in the spore forest."

"Not after decontam," Paul said. "Nothing comes in or out by now."

The door to the bathroom slid open to reveal a yawning Jeanie. 

"Come on, kiddo, you need breakfast and I need caffeine." Paul offered her his hand.

Jeanie took it. "I'm not hungry, Uncle Paul."

"You will be once your stomach has a chance to wake up," Paul said. "Let's go to the mess hall."

He just hoped they didn't run into any of his lab staff: having his niece in matching exercise clothes might be just a little much.

* * *

Hugh watched Jeanie clinging to Paul's hand, drifting closer to his leg as they lined up for the food synthesizers in the mess hall.

"What do you want for breakfast, Jeanie?" Paul asked, squatting down to Jeanie's level to look her in the eyes.

"I'm not hungry, Uncle Paul," Jeanie said.

Paul's eyes darted up to meet Hugh's.

"Have you ever had a breakfast burrito, Jeanie?" Hugh asked, coming down to her level as well.

He could feel eyes of the crew on them, but he did his best to ignore them as Jeanie shook her head no.

Two shadows came between them and the rest of the mess hall.

Hugh broke eye contact with Jeanie long enough to realize that Tilly and Burnham had strategically placed themselves so that they were blocking the view of most of the mess hall.

"You want to try one?" Hugh asked.

"I'm not..."

"Sweetie," Hugh said, reaching out and smoothing her hair. "I know you don't have much of an appetite right now, but you're still growing and you need to eat."

"Doctor's orders?" Jeanie asked.

He hadn't been _planning_ on playing that card, but he wasn't above using it. "Doctor's orders."

"Okay."

Hugh ruffled her hair and stood up. "Computer, personal recipe Culber 1, but adjust the portion size for a six year old."

He was vaguely aware of Jeanie hiding behind Paul's legs.

The dish materialized, the familiar scent of beans and his mother's spices wafting towards his nose.

"And an adult portion," he decided.

"Is that recipe public?" Tilly asked hopefully.

"Help yourself, Cadet Tilly."

"Do you want to eat with us?" Jeanie peeked out from behind Paul's legs.

Tilly glanced at Paul, who nodded.

"I'd be delighted."

Jeanie smiled shyly.

Hugh arranged things on a tray, and led Jeanie towards a table.

He had set out Jeanie's tray when Paul joined them.

Paul rested his tray on the table. "Hugh, why don't you scoot down so I can sit between you and Jeanie?"

Hugh glanced at Jeanie, but her attention was on Cadet Tilly by the food synthesizers. 

He shrugged and scooted his things down.

Hugh glanced at Paul's tray. Oatmeal and scrambled eggs. At least the oatmeal had strawberries in it. He gently ran his fingers across the small of Paul's back with a finger before taking a seat.

"Jeanie, you need to eat, not stare," Paul said gently as he sat down.

Jeanie looked at the food, then up at Paul.

"Do I eat it with a knife and fork or pick it up with my hands?"

"Knife and fork," they chorused.

Jeanie picked up the knife and fork and started working on cutting the burrito.

Tilly arrived, Burnham on her heels.

Hugh frowned, noticing that Burnham's eyes had dark circles around them. "You all right, Burnham?"

Burnham stiffened. "Yes, thank you for asking."

"Cadet Tilly, can you please tell me more about the insectarium at Starfleet Sciences?" Jeanie asked.

Oh. So _that's_ what all Jeanie's staring was about. 

"I can, but I'd like to know why you love bugs so much when you grew up on a space station," Tilly said.

"Because of Polka Dots," Jeanie said.

"Wait, I've never heard this story," Paul said.

"Polka dots?" Tilly asked. "Like the pattern?"

"My stuffed butterfly. Uncle Paul got her for me before I was born," Jeanie said. "She's... still on the station."

Paul reached out to squeeze Jeanie's shoulder and Hugh had to resist the urge to get up and hug her.

Hugh could see Burnham watching the exchange through hooded eyes.

Oh. _Oh._

He'd have to check in with her in private--Vulcans were notoriously private about emotions and with Burnham's upbringing...

"Anyway, when I was really little I asked my..." Jeanie paused.

Oh dear. Meltdown in...

"My mom what a butterfly was, and she pulled up an info page, and it had pictures of butterflies making crysa... cry... cocoons."

"Chrysalises," Paul supplied absently.

"Chrysalises," Jeanie repeated. "It was so cool, and then we started looking at other things--like did you know honey bees dance to tell each other where flowers are?"

"Really?" Tilly asked.

Jeanie stood up. "Yeah, they wiggle like this."

Oh no; they were already getting enough stares. Paul grabbed her arm. "Not here, sweetie. Even if it is cute."

"Okay." Jeanie said sat down. "It's really cool though."

Tilly smiled at her. "My favorite part of the Starfleet Insectarium had to be the bioluminescent colonies..."

* * *

After they put the trays and dishes in the recycler, Hugh told Paul and Jeanie he'd catch up in a minute.

"Specialist Burnham, could I have a word in private?" Hugh asked.

Burnham nodded, and followed him to a nearby conference room.

"Yes, Doctor Culber?"

"Are you sleeping well? I couldn't help but notice the dark circles under your eyes; this whole incident is probably bringing up a lot of bad memories."

"They're in the past."

Hugh resisted the temptation to roll his eyes. "They are, but they can still haunt you in the present."

"Is this a medical consultation?"

"Do you want it to be?" Hugh asked. "As your friend, I'm concerned. As a member of this ship's medical staff, it's my job to make sure...." he trailed off as Burnham shook her head.

"I went through this with Tilly in the middle of the night; I'm just glad she was able to go back to sleep."

"If you want to talk to Counselor Burgis..."

Burnham shook her head. "This is illogical and..."

"You're not a Vulcan, Burnham."

She raised an eyebrow at him. "Are you going to make that an order?"

"Only if the nightmares persist."

"Noted." She paused, her Vulcan reserve break a little as shifted from foot to foot. "If you'd like me to speak to your niece...."

"If you're comfortable with that, we'd appreciate it," Hugh said, "but don't feel you have to."

"It's the right thing to do."

It was a strange sentiment, coming from Starfleet's only mutineer.

"Is there..." He paused, backing up. "If I'm intruding too much, just say so, but when...." He paused again, then plowed ahead. "Is there something in particular you remember needing?"

Burnham looked down at the rug, refusing to meet Hugh's eyes. "A hug."

Her voice was so full of longing that Hugh suspected she'd never gotten one; which made him want to punch whatever _Vulcan_ thought raising a human as one of them was a good idea.

"Judging from what I've witnessed of your interactions in the mess hall, I suspect Jeanie is getting plenty of hugs."

"Yeah," Hugh said softly. He reached out and squeezed her shoulder. "If there's something I can do, let me know."

"Don't forget about my offer, Doctor Culber. If I may? I need to clean up before my shift"

"Thank you, Burnham. And yes, by all means."

She stalked out of the room. Hugh followed to meet Paul and Jeanie.

* * *

Paul wished he could beg Hugh to stay, but the CMO had given him a choice of taking today or the day they were taking Jeanie to Jack and Amy and...

Hugh leaned in, his kiss tender and longing. Without a word, Paul knew that Hugh wanted to stay as much as Paul wanted him to. "I'll see you at lunch."

Hugh leaned over and gave Jeanie a hug and a kiss on the cheek. "Don't be too hard on Uncle Paul now, he's hurting too."

Jeanie nodded.

Hugh straightened up, leaned into Paul to place another gentle kiss on his lips, then left.

Paul spilled onto the couch. Jeanie snuggled into his side.

"So what do you want to do today, sprite?" Paul asked.

There wasn't much to do with a six year old on a ship designed for adults, but Jeanie was easily distracted with books, coloring, and craft supplies, so Paul was hoping those would be her request.

Jeanie just shrugged.

Paul kissed the top of her head. "We could color."

The door chime rang. Jeanie looked up at him.

"Come in," Paul said.

Tilly walked in, looking somewhat pale.

"What's wrong?" Paul asked.

"I... the captain is insisting on a briefing regarding the..." Tilly paused, glancing at Jeanie.

Oh. Having to shut down the spore supply to the top secret spore drive.

"Procedure we had to run yesterday on the fungal samples?" Paul prompted.

"Yes, sir. The chief engineer asked Burnham and me to brief him but the captain insisted on you briefing him personally, sir."

"And the commander didn't come himself because..."

"He asked me to babysit for you, sir."

Paul blinked. Well, yes, he probably shouldn't leave a six year old unsupervised. He sighed.

"Leave it to our CO to take away my best excuse."

"The captain is mean," Jeanie muttered into Paul's arm.

Paul kissed the top of her forehead. "Well, yes, he is, but we don't say that out loud, because it's against protocol."

Jeanie looked up at him from the side of her eyes, nose wrinkled. 

Paul just sighed. "Be good for Cadet Tilly, okay?" He picked up his PADD and handed it to her. "I made you your own account on here. The passcode is your birthday, and I put a couple of coloring programs and some insect books on here."

"Okay," Jeanie said.

Paul stood. "A moment in the hallway, Cadet?"

Tilly nodded and they headed into the corridor.

The door closed behind him.

"I'll watch my language, I swear," Tilly said.

Paul chuckled. "That too. If she wants to get into arts and crafts, go ahead and let her as long as it's not too messy." He paused. "If she hits you up to read Harry Potter, tell her no, or insist on reading the first book. Apparently she and her dad were at the end of the fourth one."

Tilly winced. "I assume academy stories are fine?"

"Tell her all the science stories you want so long as they're not classified," Paul said. "Heck, if you want to ask her to do the bee dance for you go for it--her mom sent me video; it's the cutest thing I've ever seen. Honestly, I'm hoping she'll conk out on you, she was having nightmares last night."

"Anything else, sir?"

Paul glanced at the ground before meeting Tilly's eyes. "Thank you, Cadet. I know this isn't anywhere close to your usual job description. I'm sorry you got stuck..."

"I volunteered, sir."

Paul blinked. _She what?_ "Thank you."

He palmed open the door. "Jeanie, be good for Cadet Tilly, okay? She volunteered to hang out with you, but it's really not her job."

Jeanie looked up from the couch where she'd been sitting, his PADD lying by her side, turned off. 

"Okay?" Paul repeated.

Jeanie nodded.

"Don't worry, Lieutenant I have lots more bug stories about the academy to tell her," Tilly said with a wink.

Tilly had Jeanie's number all right.

"Carry on, Cadet," Paul said. He walked back into his quarters, kissed Jeanie on the forehead, and then walked back out.

He headed for his lab; he had a feeling a visual aid or three was in order.

* * *


	3. Chapter 3

Stamets strode into Lorca's office and placed the specimen jar containing the Ursa stink bug on Lorca's desk.

"Lieutenant Stamets," the captain said, picking up the jar. "What am I looking at?"

"An Ursa stink bug," Stamets replied. "It's a spore eating..."

"How did it get on my ship?"

Stamets blinked. "Sir?"

The doors opened again.

"Ah, Lieutenant Tyler," Lorca said. 

"Sir, I was under the impression that Lieutenant Stamets was on bereavement leave."

"I am."

"Gentleman, I called you here to determine why the hell there are spore eating bugs on my ship, not to chit chat."

Stamets glared, tamping down the desire to take the captain's head off. "Sir, it's not my job to figure out how that bug or its nineteen friends got into the spore forest; it's my job to make sure their hundreds of eggs don't hatch and we don't have a collapse of our spore supply. Hence the decontamination protocol. And..."

"There were twenty bugs?" Tyler asked. "Exactly twenty?"

"One adult female crawling on me yesterday, nineteen picked up by scans before we started the...." Stamets paused. "You're implying this was sabotage?"

"It's a pretty round number," Tyler said. "Do you know the sex differential?"

"I'll have Tilly look into that once I relieve her from her current detail," Stamets replied.

"Thanks, I'll get my people on this right away." Tyler paused, turning to Lorca. "With your permission, sir."

"Are you sure those tourists didn't track something in?" Lorca asked. "Stations like that..."

Stamets clenched his fists. These were displaced Federation citizens. What the hell was _wrong_ with this man?

"Someone tracked in exactly twenty, sir?" Tyler asked. "Also, decontamination protocols were in effect in the shuttles and the transporter biofilters should have picked them up."

Lorca stood, starting to pace. "Make sure, Lieutenant. I don't want to have another downtime caused by a bunch of..."

Stamets could feel his face turning red, and breathed in, as subtly as he could. Can't curse out the captain, Stamets. Even if he deserves it.

"...refugees. Especially as the spore drive means this might not be the last time."

Stamets really just wanted to hug his niece now. "Do you need anything else, sir?" 

Lorca waved at him dismissively. "We're done here; you're both dismissed."

Stamets stalked out of the ready room and to the turbolift.

"Stamets, a word?" Tyler asked. "In private?"

The turbolift door opened.

Stamets sighed, gesturing through the open door. "Get in."

The doors closed. 

"Deck 10."

Tyler was quiet.

"I need to relieve Cadet Tilly from babysitting; if you want to talk, talk now," Stamets snapped. "Whatever it is, Jeanie's been through enough."

Tyler shifted his weight from foot to foot. "I've had several complaints about the behavior of one of my security officers who was conducting the evacuation. One of them involves him fireman's carrying a screaming little girl with very pale blonde hair. I have it on good authority that Doctor Culber got an earful about Jeanie's treatment, and I'm pretty sure that was her, so if you think she's up to talking..."

Paul rubbed the bridge of his nose--he'd been meaning to say something to Tyler, but to talk to Jeanie about this? Tyler had to be kidding. "You have other complaints, other reports."

"I do, but a first hand report signed by a Starfleet Officer acting _en loco parentis_ is going to carry a lot more weight," Tyler said.

Stamets sighed. Despite the captain's... misgivings, Discovery was likely to pull more rescue missions. Some other little kid could have to deal with this officer. "Let's see how it goes. If she gets upset..."

Tyler nodded. "I understand, Lieutenant"

"She's six years old, her biggest worry should be that the other kids will tease her because she loves bugs so much," Paul said.

"At least Discovery pulled the rescue mission so she has you and Doctorr Culber to look after her." Tyler leaned against the wall of the turbolift.

Stamets looked at him for a long moment. "Why..."

"I lost my mom when I was young--not that young--but there are days I'd have been pretty glad to have a couple of uncles who cared about me half as much as you and Doctor Culber care about her."

Stamets ducked his head, trying to think. Usually he had Hugh for these sorts of social situations. That was a compliment, right? "Thank you."

* * *

Paul took a deep breath as he palmed open the door to his and Hugh's quarters. He was hoping to find Jeanie conked out on the couch.

Instead he found Tilly sitting on the floor, twisting two pipecleaners together. Jeanie wasn't in evidence, but the door to the bathroom was closed.

"Lieutenant!" Tilly leapt to her feet. "Sorry about the mess..."

There was a selection of pipecleaners on the floor, most in a neat pile separated by color, but one had been twisted into a mushroom, and another into a bug. (Paul had no doubts Jeanie would inform him which one and in great detail.) There was a tangle of them in Tilly's hands, but Paul couldn't make out what it was supposed to be.

"It's fine. Can you see if the computer was able to determine the sexes of our uninvited guests during the scans yesterday?"

"Yes, sir," Tilly replied.

"Copy Lieutenant Tyler on your report," Paul added.

"Yes, sir."

"Thank you for watching Jeanie; I really appreciate it."

"Any time, Lieutenant She's a delight."

The door to the bathroom slid open.

"Hi, Uncle Paul." Jeanie emerged, then bent down to pick up the pipecleaner mushroom from the floor. "I made you a mushroom."

Paul smiled. It had been awhile since he'd had random crafts to hang in his office. Andy and Freddy and James--Hugh's sister's kids---were all getting too old. "Thank you, Jeanie. Say thank you to Cadet Tilly for staying with you; she has to go back to work."

"Thank you, Cadet Tilly," Jeanie said.

"You're welcome, sweetie," Tilly said. She glanced at Paul.

He tilted his head towards the door; it was too weird formally dismissing anyone in his quarters.

As Tilly walked out the door, Jeanie's eyes fell on Lieutenant Tyler and the color drained from her face. "Is Uncle Hugh okay?" she whispered.

Paul picked her up, squeezing her tight. "Uncle Hugh is just fine. Lieutenant Tyler wants to talk to you about the man who brought you to Discovery yesterday."

"He was mean," Jeanie said.

"So I hear," Paul said. "Lieutenant Tyler is his boss..."

"Am I going to get him in trouble?" Jeanie whispered.

Paul sighed. "Would you rather he scare some other little girl as much as he scared you?"

Jeanie blinked.

"I want to know what happened so I can make sure he follows the rules from now on," Tyler added softly. "It's not like I'm going to send him to bed without supper or anything."

"Promise?" Jeanie asked.

"I promise I won't send him to bed without supper."

Paul wasn't sure whether he should be impressed or appalled that Tyler had circumvented Jeanie's misgivings by citing a childhood punishment instead of a Starfleet disciplinary measure--the officer would likely get at least a formal reprimand. Tyler was devious; no wonder Lorca liked him.

"Okay," Jeanie said.

"Lieutenant Stamets, is it all right if I record this?" Tyler asked.

"I should probably set her down?" Paul asked.

Jeanie laid her head on Paul's shoulder and wrapped her arms tightly around him. "No."

"Let's sit on the couch, okay, sweetie?" Paul asked. He wasn't quite ready to give up yet, but if she kept going shy like this...

Jeanie nodded.

Paul set her down, then sat next to her, wrapping a protective arm around her shoulders. "Okay, Tyler. And yes, you can record it. Jeanie, if you want to stop, just tell me, all right?"

Jeanie nodded.

Tyler picked up his PADD, aiming at Jeanie.

"Can you tell me your full name please?"

"Jean Louise Carleton-Stamets."

"Is this the man who brought you to Discovery?" A picture appeared on the back of the PADD.

"Yes," Jeanie said. She leaned into Paul a little, but she seemed okay.

"For the record, that's Ensign Thomas Sterling, as shown to Ms. Carleton-Stamets and is inset in the recording. Ms. Carleton-Stamets, can you tell me about when he brought you to the ship?"

Jeanie looked up at Paul.

"He means you, kiddo," Paul said, gently.

"He came into our quarters. I was hiding, and he had a..." Jeanie gestured, making a box with her hands, "Tri...?"

"Tricorder?" Paul supplied.

"Yes," Jeanie said. "He opened the door to the closet where I was hiding and said to get out because we had to go."

"Did he tell you his name?"

"No."

"Did he tell you that he was with Starfleet or where he wanted to take you?"

"No."

"What happened next?"

"I told him that I wasn't going anywhere without my parents. He said that wasn't okay, so like Mommy told me I should do if a stranger said that I told him we needed to look for them. And then he picked me up and draped me over his shoulder."

"Did he say anything else to you?"

"No," Jeanie said. "He just dumped me on a... shuttlecraft and left right when the doors closed. Someone else made me strap in."

"What happened on the other end?" Tyler asked.

"The shuttle docked and they told us all to get off. Someone said 'Welcome to Discovery' and I looked around and saw Uncle Hugh."

"That would be Doctor Hugh Culber, who's your Uncle Paul Stamets' partner."

"Uncle Hugh is my uncle too," Jeanie said firmly.

"He needs his full name for the record, sweetie," Paul said.

Jeanie buried her face in Paul's side.

"Jeanie, do we need to stop?" Paul asked gently.

"It's okay, Lieutenant Stamets, I've got what I need." Tyler did a couple things with the PADD. "Thank you very much, Jeanie. I'm going to give Ensign Sterling a refresher course in how to treat people. I'm very sorry that he treated you that way. He didn't follow the rules."

Jeanie looked from him to Paul, eyes narrowed in confusion. "Why is he..."

"You can ask Lieutenant Tyler, sweetie; it's okay."

"Why are you apologizing for what he did?"

"Because I'm his boss, so I'm responsible for making sure he follows the rules," Tyler replied.

Jeanie tilted her head, studying Lieutenant Tyler carefully. Then she yawned. "Excuse me."

If there was an afterlife, which Paul doubted, then Stacy had just punched the air because Jeanie had remembered her manners. 

"I think that's my cue. I'll append the video to a report and send it to you for countersignature."

"Sounds good." Paul stood as Tyler did.

Tyler walked out.

Paul turned to Jeanie, who had slid to the floor and had picked up some pipe cleaners.

Paul sat on the floor. "Whatcha making, kiddo?"

"A snake thingy for Uncle Hugh."

"A snake thingy?" Paul repeated.

"You know, like on his medical kit? The picture?"

"It's called a medical caduceus," Paul said.

"Okay," Jeanie said.

Paul sat on the floor, idly picking up a pipecleaner. He might as well.

* * *

Hugh walked into his quarters at lunchtime to be greeted by the sight of his partner, sound asleep on the couch, with Jeanie snuggled into his side. Paul's PADD was laying on his lap. Hugh felt like his heart was swelling; could he just come home to this all the time?

Hugh picked up his own PADD from the coffee table and snapped a picture. He set up a message to Paul's mother and brother and then, after a moment added his own mother as well. He wrote: _These two are the cutest, and I think someone might need to talk me out of resigning my commission so I can come home to this every day. (I had to talk Paul out of it last night; he'd be on board.)_

Hugh ran a hand through his hair. He didn't want to wake them up, but he needed to take lunch now and...

"Mommy!" Jeanie cried out in her sleep.

Hugh crossed the room and shook her gently. "Jeanie, sweetie, wake up. You're dreaming."

She jumped at his touch, jarring Paul and causing him to tip over. Which made him jerk awake.

"Whu-huh?" Paul murmured.

Jeanie started crying.

Paul snapped fully awake. "Jeanie, what's wrong?" He pulled her into his arms, and then looked up, meeting Hugh's eyes. "Hi. Lunchtime already?"

Hugh sat down on Jeanie's other side, wrapping his arms around both his niece and his partner. "Yeah."

He was tempted to ask Jeanie what was wrong, but it was sort of a moot point: she'd been crying out for her mother, and her mother wasn't there; would never be there again.

"Did you have a bad dream?" Paul asked.

Jeanie responded by snuggling into Paul's arms.

"Maybe I should go to the mess hall and bring lunch back?" Hugh offered, reaching down to stroke Jeanie's hair.

"Will Cadet Tilly be there?" Jeanie asked.

Paul raised an eyebrow at Hugh, who just shrugged. "She might be," Paul replied. "Why do you want to know?"

"I wanna be like Cadet Tilly when I grow up," Jeanie said. "Except I want to work with bugs, not mushrooms."

Of all the people on Discovery who could reignite Jeanie's interest in Starfleet after Captain Lorca just up and commandeered Paul's research, Tilly would not have been Hugh's first bet.

Not that he was _complaining_.

Jeanie wriggled out of their arms and rubbed at her eyes. Paul pulled a handkerchief out of his pocket and handed it to her. 

Paul gently stroked her hair. "It's okay if you want to eat here."

Hugh rubbed the back of his neck. They were going to need to make a decision soon--the CMO might be fairly lax about lunch breaks, but his coworkers couldn't go until he got back, so...

Jeanie blew her nose and shrugged, still sniffling.

Paul looked down at her, and stroked her hair again. "Let's send Uncle Hugh for lunch. He needs to get back to Sickbay so his coworkers can eat."

"Can I have a hamburger and french fries, please?" Jeanie asked.

"Sure," Hugh said. "Paul?"

His partner shrugged. "Chicken sandwich I guess? Surprise me."

Hugh suppressed an eyeroll. "Pulled chicken."

"That works."

"I'll be back in a bit," Hugh said. He dropped a kiss on Jeanie's forehead, and then a peck on Paul's lips.

It was going to be a long couple of days.

* * * 

"Computer, activate privacy screen, but only make it soundproof and light proof on the door side," Paul said, quietly.

"Activated," the computer replied. 

Hugh looked up from the PADD he was reading in bed and raised an eyebrow.

"Well, Jeanie's out, but I'm not exactly tired." Paul climbed into bed next to his partner. "We're probably lucky we didn't wake her up last night."

"But you want to be able to see..."

"If she has nightmares." Paul reached for his PADD, but could feel Hugh's eyes on him, so he turned to his partner instead. "What's wrong?" He reached out, touching Hugh's arm.

Hugh sighed. "I'm feeling off-balance I guess."

"Having a six year old around is kind of a big change." Paul wrapped an arm around Hugh's shoulders. "And thank you, for just rolling with this, you didn't have..."

"Paul, she's _family_." Hugh thawapped him on the chest, then rolled onto his side and snuggled in the crook of Paul's arm. "What was I going to do, have Tilly put her with some stranger in the cargo bay?"

"Stacy and Marvin's friends are there." Paul leaned his head on top of Hugh's. "I mean if you still wanted to...."

"No," Hugh said. "G-d no. More like the opposite. I... When I walked in this afternoon, you two were sound asleep on the couch, and my first thought was, 'wow, they're cute; why can't I come home to this all the time'." He shook his head. "It's weird, I mean, I never really wanted kids, but damn if I'm not worried about that one."

Paul wrapped his arms around Hugh, pulling him close. "We could start typing up our resignation letters, but we might have to fight Jack for her."

Hugh reached for his own PADD, ignoring Paul's grunt of protest as they separated. "Oh we would _definitely_ have to fight Jack for her." He pulled up a message thread and handed it to Paul.

Paul saw the picture Hugh had sent with the caption and paused to peck his partner's cheek. Then he looked at his brother's response:

_YOU CAN'T HAVE HER SHE'S MINE. (But seriously, you know as well as I do this is what Stacy and Marvin wanted for her. Also, Andy's spent the last two days in the woodshop making her a welcome gift and he's very excited about being a big brother now. Do you want to break your nephew's heart? Do you?)_

Paul buried his face in Hugh's shoulder, laughing. "I guess we can't do that to Andy."

Hugh sighed, settling back against his own pillow. "We probably shouldn't. We should possibly talk to Jack and Amy about one of those letters like we signed for Alexa."

"Yeah." Paul handed Hugh his PADD back. "That would be a very good idea. I forget, have you ever met Marvin's brother?"

"I don't think so," Hugh said. "I couldn't get leave for Stacy's wedding, remember?"

"Right; Stacy and Marvin's sister-in-law expected her three year old daughter to keep her clothes immaculate." Paul shook his head. "And I don't just mean at the wedding. In the hotel courtyard for casual breakfast the next morning."

Hugh's eyes widened. "That sounds like a terrible environment for any kid, yet alone Jeanie."

"You see my concern."

"You know I'd do it anyway," Hugh said. 

"I know, dear doctor." Paul gave him a tender kiss on the lips. "You brought it up after all." He snuggled into Hugh's side and pulled up the book he'd been reading.

"What, am I a pillow?" Hugh teased.

"Yes."

Hugh kissed Paul's forehead and went back to his own reading

* * *

The next morning, Paul woke up to find Jeanie sprawled on the couch in the dark, using the coloring program on his PADD.

"Hey, kiddo," Paul said quietly. He moved to the other side of the room. "Computer, privacy screen, usual orientation."

Jeanie blinked as the black wall came between them and the bed.

"It will keep us from waking Uncle Hugh. And you killing your eyes. Computer, lights to 25 percent." 

Jeanie sat up, looking at him with wide eyes.

He sat next to Jeanie on the couch. "What's going on, kiddo?"

Jeanie squirmed.

"You can tell me anything." Paul reached up and smoothing her hair.

"Knock knock." Hugh's disembodied head popped through the privacy screen.

Jeanie giggled. "Uncle Paul, I thought you said we couldn't wake him up with that thing."

"Computer, deactivate privacy screen," Paul said. "Sorry, I thought I'd reconfigured it correctly."

"You had." Hugh shrugged. "I just rolled over and woke up because you weren't there."

"And you accuse me of being an octopus," Paul said.

Jeanie scrunched up her eyes and looked at him critically. "Uncle Paul, you only have two arms."

Paul stifled a laugh. "Yes."

"He does." Hugh scooped Jeanie up, sat down, and then deposited her on his lap. "Your Uncle Paul just likes to reach out for hugs in the middle of the night."

"Daddy says..." Jeanie stopped, sighing. "I mean, Daddy used to say that Mommy did that too."

Paul felt his eyes well up a little.

Hugh reached out and squeezed Paul's shoulder. "I guess it's genetic. Lucky for your uncle, most of the time I don't mind." 

Jeanie smiled weakly, still looking at them with big eyes.

"Computer, time?" Hugh asked.

"0545."

"Almost time to get up, should we get dressed and get breakfast?"

"Yeah," Paul said.

Jeanie looked from one to the other.

"What's up, kiddo?" Hugh asked.

She buried her face in his chest.

"Is it genetic that you two think my chest is a pillow?" Hugh asked.

"Well, your muscles do make it pretty comfortable." Paul reached out, gently caressing Jeanie's hair. "What's wrong, sweetie? You can tell us anything."

Jeanie shook her head.

Paul buried his face into Hugh's shoulder in frustration.

"Uncle Paul?" Jeanie asked, peeking her face out from Hugh's chest. "What's wrong?"

"You won't tell me what's bothering you and it worries me," Paul said.

Jeanie hid her face again.

Hugh leaned his head back against the back of the couch. "It's too early for this."

Paul reached out and picked up Jeanie, transferring her to his own lap.

"Hey!" Hugh said.

"Make up your mind Hugh," Paul said as Jeanie snuggled against him. "See, she's hiding on me now."

"Jeanie, you realize you're hiding from Uncle Paul by hiding on Uncle Paul, right?"

Jeanie snuggled closer. Paul could feel her trembling in his arms.

Paul sighed, resting his nose on top of Jeanie's head. "What's scaring you so much that you won't talk to me?"

Jeanie shook her head.

Hugh reached out. "You know I was joking, right, kiddo?"

No response.

Paul touched her forehead.

Hugh rolled his eyes at him. "Seriously, Paul, that doesn't do anything." Hugh pushed himself off of the couch and returned with his medical tricorder. "Body temperature is 37 C; still normal, but how long have you been awake, kiddo?"

There was no response.

Paul waited until Hugh met his eyes, and then rolled them. "You're too attached to that thing when you're worried."

Hugh glared at him. "You got a better idea?"

Paul sighed. He was tempted to call his mom for advice--and to think last night he and Hugh had been (semi-)seriously discussing keeping Jeanie. They had no clue what they were doing. "Jack is going to hear this story and laugh at us."

Jeanie tensed in his arms.

"By us I mean me and your Uncle Hugh, not you, sweetie," Paul said.

Jeanie clung tighter.

"Does this have something to do with Uncle Jack?" Paul asked.

"What..." Jeanie sniffled, and then shook her head again.

"I won't tell him, I promise."

More sniffles.

"Why don't you want to tell us?" Hugh asked.

"You'll think I'm being silly."

Paul privately wondered if maybe there was a reason for that, but telling a six year old that seemed unwise. "I won't laugh, promise."

"If he laughs, I'll bop him one," Hugh added.

Jeanie turned her face to Hugh; Paul couldn't see her expression. 

Hugh rocked backwards in shock.

Paul wondered if Jeanie had inherited her mom's glare. It would explain Hugh's reaction.

Hugh's face grew serious. "I promise not to laugh."

Jeanie shook a finger at Hugh. "No hurting Uncle Paul."

"He was joking sweetie." Paul ruffled her hair.

"Not. Funny."

Hugh raised his eyebrows at Paul, wondering where this was coming from. "Sweetie, I would _never_ hurt your Uncle Paul. I spend too much time putting him back together again after people fly the ship weirdly."

Paul rolled his eyes. "I'm never going to live that broken nose down am I?"

"I figure I get at least six months out of that incident--you wouldn't even let me get the blood off of your face before you left sickbay..." Hugh reached out and stroked Jeanie's hair. "He hit his face on a console when someone on the bridge tried a crazy maneuver and the inertial dampeners cut out. I fixed it. He's fine, and believe me the only people I'd actually hurt would be someone trying to hurt him. Promise."

Jeanie looked from one to the other. When she met Paul's eyes, he could see that her face was tear streaked.

"Sprite, what's wrong?" Paul gently rubbed at the tears with his thumb. "I'm not going to laugh, I'm not going to let your Uncle Hugh laugh (not that he would), but you are going to scare us both if you don't tell us."

"What if Uncle Jack doesn't want me?" Jeanie sobbed.

"You should see something." Hugh stood up, and picked up his PADD from the nightstand.

Paul frowned. Would Jeanie be hurt that she didn't get to stay with them?

Hugh handed the Padd to Jeanie. "Can you read that message from your Uncle Jack?"

Jeanie tilted her head and Hugh ducked, blushing.

Paul snickered. Hugh'd seen plenty of video of Jeanie reading--at age 4--Stacy had been thrilled.

"I forgot, sweetie. Of course you can read it. Read it out loud, okay?"

"It says 'You can't have her,'" Jeanie said. "In all capital letters. Does that mean he's shouting? Why is he shouting?"

She scrolled up, seeing the previous message.

"What does resigning your commission mean?" Jeanie asked.

Hugh looked at Paul, who just shrugged.

"It means quitting Starfleet," Hugh said.

"Why would you have to quit Starfleet?" Jeanie asked.

"No kids allowed on starships," Paul said. Also having both parents in the fleet would be a bad idea waiting to happen.

"Oh," Jeanie said quietly. "You weren't in trouble the other day were you? When the captain showed up?"

Paul gave her a squeeze. "No, sweetie; they made an exception to get you to Proxima."

"Then why did you send me away with Cadet Tilly?" Jeanie asked.

"Because Captain Lorca doesn't deserve to meet you," Paul said.

Jeanie turned to him slightly, giving him a very impressive, narrow side-eye.

"Also, as you've said, he's not nice, and I didn't want you to have to deal with that."

"Oh," Jeanie said quietly.

"Are you still scared that Uncle Jack isn't going to want you?" Paul asked.

"No," Jeanie said. "You're not going to fight with him, are you?"

"Not over that," Paul said.

Hugh snickered.

"What?" Paul asked. 

"We're going to have what, three hours? Surely you two can manage not to fight for that long," Hugh said.

"Mommy says Uncle Paul and Uncle Jack go together like oil and vinegar," Jeanie said.

"So we're salad dressing?" Paul asked.

Jeanie shrugged.

"So, food?" Hugh said. "Unless you two don't want me around for breakfast."

Jeanie tilted her head at him.

"Come on, kiddo, that's Uncle Hugh talk for if we don't get moving, he won't have enough time for his workout before his shift."

"You're not coming running with us?" Jeanie asked.

"I have to lift weights to keep up my muscles," Hugh replied.

"Daddy said the best thing about marrying Mommy was he didn't have to work out anymore."

Hugh snorted.

Paul rolled his eyes. "Yeah, well, your daddy didn't get cranky if he went three days without lifting. Your uncle, on the other hand..."

"Well, I don't hear you _complaining_."

"If you're happy, I'm happy," Paul said.

Jeanie dug into the small satchel she was using to keep her clothes in, grabbed a small pile of clothes, and disappeared into the bathroom.

"You like my muscles," Hugh whispered. "If the way you enjoy touching...."

"I like the noises you make when I do." Paul winked. He went to go find his workout clothes before the conversation when any further.

* * *

The bell chime sounded and Paul looked up from his reading. "Come?"

Burnham strode through the door, worrying a box between her hands.

Paul suppressed a sigh. "Please tell me the captain hasn't required my presence..."

"No, sir." Burnham turned the box upside down, then back over. "This is a social call."

_A what?_ "Then please don't call me 'sir'."

Burnham frowned. "Very well, Lieutenant"

Slightly better.

Jeanie looked up from the colored blocks she was using to build... Paul wasn't sure. "Hi." Her voice was so quiet that Paul wondered if Burnham could hear.

"Hi, Jeanie," Burnham replied, her voice equally soft.

Oh. _Oh._ Hugh had told him Burnham had offered to talk to Jeanie about the Klingon attack that had killed her own parents.

Paul bit back a swear. Neither he nor Burnham was great at feelings, and Hugh was still on duty. Burnham had to do this _now_?

Burnham sat on the floor across from Jeanie.

Jeanie looked at her curiously.

"Have you ever played Kal-toh?" Burnham asked.

Jeanie shook her head.

"Would you like to learn?"

"Okay," Jeanie said. She sounded confused. "Let me put these away first."

She gently picked up the building and put it in the bin they'd replicated with the blocks, then dumped the loose bricks on top.

Paul wasn't about to complain, but he wondered why Jeanie had done that without prompting. 

"Can Uncle Paul play too?" Jeanie asked.

"If he likes," Burnham said.

Paul set down his PADD and slid to the floor.

Burnham dumped a pile of metal rods onto the floor. "These rods are called t'an. The object of the game is to build a perfect sphere with them, you place one t'an on your turn, and the person to finish the sphere wins."

Jeanie eyed the pieces skeptically. "It looks really hard."

"It is," Burnham said. "I was about your age when I first started playing, and it took a little while before my younger foster brother stopped building circles around me."

"What's a foster brother?" Jeanie asked.

Paul suppressed a smile. Burnham was better at this than he gave her credit for. "That's when you live with someone who isn't your parents."

"Like I'm going to live with Uncle Jack?" Jeanie asked.

"No. Well, sort of like that," Burnham said. "Except your uncle is still your uncle--it's more like when you live with someone who isn't even a part of your family. I went to live with a family of Vulcans."

Jeanie blinked. "What happened to your parents?"

"They were killed when Klingons attacked our space station, kind of like yours were."

Jeanie shifted uncomfortably.

"I was thinking," Burnham said, casually, as she stacked the t'an neatly in a place that was close to Jeanie, but that she and Paul could still reach, "that if you had any questions you might want to ask, now might be a good time."

Jeanie glanced at Paul.

"It's okay, sweetie," he said.

"I... when did you stop missing them?"

Oh _Jeanie_.

Burnham shot a helpless look at Paul.

"Truth," he mouthed.

"I still miss them every day," Burnham said.

Jeanie's eyes widened and her hands clenched.

"It won't always hurt so much," Burnham said. "It does get easier."

Jeanie's face contorted, and tears welled in her eyes.

Paul didn't think--he just reached out and pulled Jeanie into his lap, hugging her tight.

Burnham winced.

"She's grieving, Burnham," Paul said, hearing the strain in his own voice. He realized his eyes were welling up as well. "And she's six. You just kind of have to expect periodic waterworks."

"Sorry," Jeanie sniffled.

"You have nothing to be sorry about," Burnham said before Paul could. "We can talk about something else if you'd like; unless there's something else you want to ask me."

Jeanie just snuggled into Paul's chest.

Burnham reached out, starting to pack up the t'an. "Perhaps we can play kal-toh another time, Lieutenant?"

"I'd like that," Paul said, finding he meant it. "And thank you."

Burnham raised an eyebrow.

"Thank you," Jeanie added between sobs.

Paul couldn't help but wonder that if Stacy could look down on them--which she couldn't, because he didn't believe in the afterlife--whether she'd be overjoyed that Jeanie had remembered her manners, or too busy punching Paul out for letting Burnham make her daughter cry.

"You're welcome." Burnham closed the box and stood. "I wish I could help more."

Paul started to shift Jeanie.

"Don't get up, you're fine." Burnham picked up the box. "Have a good evening, Lieutenant." With that she left.

Paul needed to remember not to yell at her for at least a week.

* * *

Hugh stepped off the turbolift and had to stop short to keep from colliding with Burnham.

"Burnham, are you okay?"

She paled. "I think... I'm sorry."

Hugh scrunched up his nose. "You think? Are you all right?"

"I... was talking to your niece, about my parents and I made her cry." Burnham took a deep breath. "And possibly Lieutenant Stamets as well. That's what you're about to walk into and I'm sorry."

Hugh reached out, resting a hand on her shoulder. "Michael, they're grieving. Jeanie is grieving her parents and Paul is grieving his sister. Crying comes with the territory; you didn't do anything wrong."

"I _made them cry_." Burnham ducked away. "I realize that for humans..."

" _You're human_ ," Hugh said, "and I'm beginning to wish I'd used the big needles on that foster father of yours when he was in sickbay."

Burnham blinked. "Why..."

Hugh sighed. "Sorry, it's been a long couple days and I didn't mean to say that out loud. They're not real--I just pretend they cause extra pain and I usually save that thought for my most recalcitrant patients. I don't actually do it..."

"Except..."

"If Lorca keeps pushing Paul to put his life in danger with this blasted spore drive and then finds himself on my table...."

Burnham tilted her head. "I hope that doesn't extend to people who make Lieutenant Stamets cry."

"He's grieving right now, so no." Hugh sighed. "I should go look after those two though. Please try not to blame yourself." With that he turned, heading for his quarters.

He heard the turbolift doors open for Burnham behind him.

Hugh palmed open the lock to his quarters, bracing himself for something ugly.

Instead he found Paul holding Jeanie tight, with her face out of sight. His face glistened with tears, but it wasn't the snotty, world ending sobs that had come a couple days after Straal died. 

Paul looked up at Hugh. "Hi."

Hugh unfroze, strode into the room and sat on the floor, pulling Paul into his arms; Jeanie coming along for the ride. She shifted a little to get comfortable, sniffling.

Paul wasn't sobbing, but he leaned his face against Hugh's shoulder and there was moisture seeping through his uniform coat.

"I've got you," he said softly. "I've got both of you."

* * *


	4. Chapter 4

Hugh woke up with Paul spreadeagled over his chest. Normally, he wouldn't have minded, but he really needed to use the bathroom. He carefully slid out from under his partner. Paul murmured, rolling over in his sleep.

Hugh emerged from the bathroom a couple of minutes later to see a lump moving around on the air mattress. He approached it quietly and saw the tell tale light of a PADD softly filtering out of the blanket. It was turned so that the light was invisible from the bed. 

Hugh bent down, and stuck his head under the covers. "What are you doing up, sweetie?"

Jeanie jumped, which shifted the air mattress into the couch. She squeaked.

Hugh pulled the blanket up like a tent, and climbed underneath, sitting cross legged on the mattress. Jeanie, who was sprawled on her stomach with her back legs bent, looked up at him through her eyelashes.

"Well?" Hugh said.

"I had a bad dream and couldn't get back to sleep," Jeanie said.

Hugh frowned, reaching out to stroke her hair. "How long have you been doing that?"

"Um..." Jeanie frowned. "Since 0220?" She turned the PADD so he could see the clock.

It was 0405.

"That's almost two hours, sweetie."

Jeanie shrugged. "Couldn't sleep."

"Why not?"

She shrugged again.

Hugh took the PADD away. "It's still really early. You should try again."

"Don't want to."

Hugh switched out of the drawing program. "Want me to read to you?"

Jeanie pouted at him.

Hugh reached out, making comforting circles with the flat of his hand. "Something bothering you?" It was a ridiculous question really. Her parents were dead, she was going to live with her aunt, uncle, and cousin on a completely new planet.....

"Everything," Jeanie said.

"Anything in particular?" Hugh asked.

Jeanie hid in her pillow.

Hugh pulled back the covers, got off of the mattress, and picked Jeanie up, then sat on the couch, pulling her into his lap and holding her tight. Jeanie snuggled close, laying her head on his shoulder, her nose against his neck. 

Hugh started rubbing her back with his palm, still holding her tightly with the other arm. "I'm here. I love you. Your Uncle Paul loves you. Your grandma and grandpa love you. Your Uncle Jack and Aunt Amy love you, and your cousin Andy not only loves you, but he is super excited to be your big brother. I know we keep telling you that, but that's because it's true. I know things are really scary right now, but we all love you very much and we're going to be here for you."

Jeanie sniffled, snuggling in closer.

"I'm here," Hugh said again, because there was nothing else he could say.

* * *

Paul woke slowly, lazily, not really wanting to move. Or at least not far; he slid over, intending to snuggle against Hugh, but was startled awake by an empty bed. Paul sat up, and saw his partner on the couch in the shadowy starlight coming in the windows; Hugh's head was tilted back against the top of the couch.

Paul stood, shaking his head. Hugh was going to get a stiff neck if he slept like that. (What was he doing on the couch anyway?)

Once he got to the couch, he realized what it was. Jeanie was snuggled against Hugh's chest, also sound asleep. Paul smiled, his heart swelling a bit. He grabbed his PADD, took a picture, and then added it to a message. "Hey, Jack, I'm sorry, bro, you can't have her. We're keeping her. This is just too cute. (We'll see you in a few hours. By then I'll have figured out if I'm kidding or not.)" He sent it to Jack, his mother, and after a moment's hesitation, his mother-in-law (Hugh was being cute and she should get to see.)

Then he leaned in, softly pressing a kiss to Hugh's lips. Hugh returned it after a moment, arm moving to cup Paul's face. 

Then he pulled away and winced. "Ow."

Paul reached around, rubbing at the spot on Hugh's neck that always got sore. "See what happens when you fall asleep on the couch?"

"Your niece was having a rough night and wouldn't let go."

"As she's so fond of reminding anyone who will listen, she's your niece too," Paul said, softly.

"She's so much more.... adamant about it than the others," Hugh said.

"The others were at our wedding," Paul said. "Heck, some of them were _in_ our wedding. Andy was there when you met my family for the first time. For Jeanie, we were already married when she was born; she literally doesn't remember a time when we weren't together." He reached out, touching Hugh's hand. "She probably would have to think about it if someone asked which of us she was related to by blood."

"What time is it?" Hugh asked.

"Computer, time?" Paul asked.

"0607."

Paul sat next to Hugh. "Do you want to give her to me and hit the gym before breakfast?"

"We could wake her up and go now," Hugh said.

"I promised Tilly we'd meet her and Burnham at 0730. You'll have just enough time to change and meet us."

Hugh sighed. "We should make her run. She's probably going to be asked to sit still the next few days."

Paul sighed. At least they were going to miss the parade of Jack and Amy's friends. "I think Andy might have diabolical plans--and she could probably use the sleep."

"Yeah. She had been up for two hours when I found her playing with your PADD."

Paul rubbed the back of his neck. "We'll have to warn Jack. Or maybe we can just keep her."

Hugh tilted his head, raising his eyebrows.

"I know, I know, I just...."

"We can make her call us every day." Hugh gently deposited Jeanie on Paul's lap.

To Paul's relief, Jeanie just snuggled against him and settled back to sleep.

Hugh placed a gentle peck on his lips. "Thanks, babe." He went to get changed.

* * *

Jeanie clung tightly to both Hugh and Paul's hands as they made their way into the mess hall. Hugh was worried that later was going to be a challenge. They'd have plenty of back up then (not just her aunt and her other uncle, her grandparents), but....

And hell, if he was honest with himself, he was looking forward to leaving Jeanie on Proxima about as much as Paul was: which was to say not at all.

Maybe they should have thought about dropping out of the fleet and moving to Proxima--Hugh could easily get a job at Proxima City General, one of the best regarded medical centers in the galaxy. The problem was Paul's research was owned by Starfleet.

So he held Jeanie's hand tightly, and resisted the urge to suggest she swing between him and Paul (they could totally support her weight, but this was a starship.)

Paul bent down as they waited in line. "What do you want for breakfast sweetie?"

"A veggie omelette."

"Is that going to be enough, sweetie?" Hugh asked. "Lunch might be kind of weird."

Paul snorted. "The neighbors have already started descending on Jack with food trays." He ruffled Jeanie's hair. "That said, he's got a point; can we add some potatoes to that?"

"I'll try?"

Paul glanced up at Hugh, who shrugged.

"Well, at least it's less likely to get us in trouble than the chocolate chip pancakes," Paul said.

Jeanie pulled a face. "It was one time!"

"And you swore to me that your mom let you have them all the time," Paul pointed out.

"I was really little, Uncle Paul. I was only five."

"That was six months ago, kiddo." Paul ruffled her hair.

Hugh ducked his head, covering his smile with his hand. He was going to _miss_ this.

Not so much the crew staring from their tables though. He shifted so that he was standing between Jeanie and the rest of the mess hall. Weren't Tilly and Burnham supposed to...

As if summoned by his thoughts, they entered the mess hall, both wearing their Disco t-shirts and slightly sweaty from their morning run.

Hugh smiled. "Good morning."

"Good morning, Doctor." Burnham was looking at the floor, not meeting his eyes.

Tilly rolled her eyes behind Burnham's back. "Will you calm down, Michael."

"What she said," Hugh said. "It's _fine_."

Jeanie turned around as Paul straightened.

"Specialist Burnham, what's wrong?" Jeanie asked.

"I'm sorry about yesterday," Burnham replied.

Jeanie wrinkled her nose in confusion. "Why?"

"Hey, kiddo, I need you to pick your veggies." Paul gently tugged Jeanie to the food synthesizer.

"Burnham, for the last time, you didn't do anything wrong or say anything unkind," Hugh said. "She needed to hear it. She may not have _liked_ it, but she needed to hear it. And as you can see, she doesn't even know why you're upset, so please let it go."

Burnham blinked.

Oops, had he introduced emotion into her oh-so-thought-out logic? Good.

"Very well," Burnham said.

There was a polite cough. "Doctor Culber, are you ready?" Simmons asked.

"My apologies, Cadet," Hugh said, and turned to face the food synthesizer.

* * *

Jeanie was settled at the table, carefully dissecting her omelette, when Tilly and Burnham joined them.

"I think the synthesizer would've just given you eggs and vegetables if you wanted, kiddo," Paul teased.

Jeanie speared a piece of green pepper wrapped in some egg and stuck her tongue out at him.

He debated telling her that was Hugh's job, but while the joke would go over Jeanie's head, Hugh wouldn't appreciate it.

"Let it go, Paul." Hugh was suppressing an eyeroll. Paul could tell.

He was sure Hugh meant the dissection, not what was going through his head, but after nearly a decade, well, Hugh might just be reading his mind.

"So I heard a rumor that you're leaving us today to go live with your uncle on Proxima," Tilly said.

Jeanie nodded.

"Are you excited?" Tilly asked.

"A little." Jeanie poked at her vegetables. "And really scared."

"Wanna know a secret?" Tilly asked.

"Yes." Jeanie set down her fork, looking at Tilly intently.

"I was really scared when I first came on board the Discovery," Tilly said, "but after I saw my room and I met all the people I was going to be working with, I realized there wasn't anything to be scared of."

Jeanie looked at Paul with big eyes. 

Paul reached out and smoothed her hair. "It's going to be fine."

Tilly and Burnham exchanged glances. Tilly reached into her pocket and produced a small card with writing on it.

Tilly held it out to Jeanie, who took it, looking at it with a crinkled nose.

"Is that a download code?" Hugh asked.

"Yes," Tilly said. "Once you're settled with a PADD for books, if you go to the site on there and put in that code, it will put a book about the insects of Proxima Centauri on your PADD. A little going away present from Burnham and me." 

Jeanie's eyes grew to the size of platters, she hopped down off of her seat and motored to Tilly's side of the table, then skidded to a stop. "Can I give you a hug?"

Tilly responded by holding out her arms invitingly. 

Jeanie reached up on her tiptoes and bowled Tilly over in a bear hug, which the cadet enthusiastically returned. "Thank you."

"You're welcome," Tilly replied.

Jeanie slid back down and then went up to Burnham. To Paul's surprise, Burnham held her arms open. Jeanie bowled her over as well, and Burnham squeezed back, patting Jeanie's back.

"Thank you." Jeanie beamed up at Burnham.

"Hey, kiddo, I'm proud you remembered your manners, but you need to finish your breakfast," Paul said. "Your grandma will freak out on us if we're late."

"He's not kidding." Hugh stabbed his fork in Jeanie's general direction. "Straal had _stories_ from their grad school days."

Jeanie obediently returned to her seat.

"Did it involve Starfleet Security, the police, and subdermal tracking devices by any chance?" Tilly asked.

Hugh blinked, and Paul could feel a blush creeping up into his neck.

"Babe, did you piss your mom off recently and somehow forget to tell me?" Hugh asked.

"No, he threatened me with that when I got back five minutes late from shore leave." Tilly cut another piece off of her breakfast burrito.

"First of all, Cadet, it was twenty minutes," Paul said. "Second of all, while I try not to question your judgement, that guy you met at the spaceport looked downright dodgy."

"But Cadet Tilly could kick his butt anyway, right?" Jeanie asked.

"I can and I have. He's my cousin," Tilly said.

Paul felt Hugh's eyes on him and turned to see his partner giving him a knowing smile.

"What?"

"Nothing, babe." Hugh grinned widely.

"No, seriously, what?" Paul asked.

Hugh didn't respond. He just grinned.

Paul rubbed his eyes with both hands. "Don't start, Hugh. I'm going to be getting enough of that from the sibs...." He trailed off. "Well, Jack," he choked out.

Hugh wrapped an arm around Paul's shoulders. Jeanie climbed into his lap.

"Sorry," Paul whispered.

"It's okay." Hugh tossed Burnham a pointed look. "It's just going to be like this for awhile."

Paul tossed his partner a confused look. A gentle dart of Hugh's eyes indicated he'd explain later.

Well, okay then. 

* * *

Paul readjusted the satchel containing the things they'd replicated for Jeanie (and the extra Disco shirt for Andy). "Come on, Jeanie, don't dawdle."

Jeanie shook her head, looking from Paul to Hugh with wide eyes.

Paul sighed. "Hugh, can you take this?" He held out the satchel.

Hugh accepted it wordlessly, but with a raised eyebrow.

Paul leaned down, raising Jeanie to his hip. "Come on, kiddo; it's going to be fine."

Jeanie buried her face in Paul's neck. Paul suppressed a sigh and strode to the transporter room, Hugh at his side.

"Good morning," the transporter chief said.

"Good morning," Paul replied. "You got the coordinates, I trust?"

"Yes, sir," he replied.

Hugh and Paul stood on separate circles. Paul tried not to fidget--either Jeanie had grown in the last few days or he was getting weaker; his arms were getting tired.

"Um, Lieutenant, it would probably be wise if you set the young lady down," the chief said. "Otherwise, she'll probably land off-balance and fall down when you get to the surface."

Jeanie shook her head.

"Down you get, kiddo. Your grandmother will never forgive me if I give you to your Uncle Jack all covered in bruises." Paul managed set her down, but only because he was bigger, stronger, and insistent.

Jeanie crossed her arms and huffed.

Paul reached out a hand. "Guess I can take the satchel back, Hugh."

Hugh raised his eyebrows but handed it over.

"Stand nicely please, Jeanie," Paul said.

Jeanie set her hands to her sides, but she was still frowning.

"Energize."

The transporter room shimmered and was replaced with a tall, brick house on a quiet street.

"Come on Jeanie." Paul offered her his hand.

Jeanie shook her head, staring at the house with wide eyes.

"Jeanie." Paul sighed. "If you stand out here all day staring, everyone's going to think..."

Hugh walked up and scooped Jeanie up, resting her on his hip. "It's going to be fine, kiddo."

She leaned the bridge of her nose against Hugh's shoulder.

Paul's stomach twisted. His arms were sore, and why hadn't he saved them for now?

"I think reality just set in," Hugh said softly. "Come on, let's go inside."

Paul nodded, undoing the latch on the front gate.

"There you are!" Paul's mother bolted out of the door and into Paul's arms. Paul staggered backwards in surprise.

"Hi, Mom." Paul hugged her tightly.

His father followed at a more sedate pace.

"Hi, Mr. Stamets," Hugh said.

Paul suppressed an eyeroll.

His father didn't bother and actually rolled his eyes. "Hugh Culber, how long have you been married to my son?"

"About eight years, sir." Hugh shifted Jeanie a little so he could free a hand to reach out to Paul's father.

Paul's father shook it. "Eight years. And you're still keeping up with him?"

"Yes, sir."

"So how long before you manage to call me Eric and drop this sir cr... er, nonsense, because if you're keeping up with my son, it's not that you're forgetting." Eric Stamets crossed his arms.

Hugh shrugged. "My mother taught me to always treat elders with respect."

Paul's father shook his head. "We're family, Hugh, or is that not my granddaughter who's currently clinging to you for dear life."

"Hey, Jeanie, you want to say hi to your grandpa?" Hugh asked softly.

Paul's mom finally let go of him, rubbing his arms up and down and...

"Paul, what are these on your arms? Are you all right?" She was turning pale.

"What's going on?" Paul's father asked.

Paul glanced at Hugh, who shook his head slightly.

"There's something hard on his arms." His mother reached for his uniform sleeves.

Paul jerked away; the navigation implants were classified. "It's... kind of an experiment. I'm fine."

"Paul," his mother said.

"I designed those," Hugh added. "They're not hurting him."

Doing the opposite actually. Paul smiled at Hugh, who didn't meet his eyes. 

Paul's parents exchanged a familiar glance--usually from when he'd wandered in half an hour past curfew after having spent the better part of the evening in the local crowdsourced science lab.

"What kind of experiment?" his father asked.

"A classified one," Paul said. "I'm _fine_."

His father looked at Hugh. Who gulped. 

"You take care of my son," his father barked.

"Yes, sir."

Paul chuckled. His dad deserved that one.

His mom finally dropped his arms, and reached for Jeanie. "Hi, sweetheart."

Jeanie buried her face further into Hugh's neck.

"Why are you going all shy all of a sudden?" Hugh patted Jeanie's back. "You know your grandparents."

Jeanie sniffled.

As if on cue, Jack and Amy emerged from the house.

"Jeez, Dad, you could've told me fungus face was here." Jack strode over, embracing Paul. Hard.

"Seriously, donkey head?" Paul clapped Jack on the back, returning the hug.

"Donkey head?" Jeanie repeated, lifting her head. Her face was tear streaked.

"Oh, sweetheart." Paul's mom reached out again, before he could himself.

Jeanie promptly hid her face and wouldn't budge.

Andy came outside, carrying a brightly wrapped package. "Hey, Jeanie, you want a present?"

She didn't respond.

"I'm a terrible person," Paul muttered under his breath. He reached out, stroking Jeanie's hair. "Sprite."

Jack took Paul's hand, squeezed it, but then set it down at his side. "Jeanie, what's wrong?" He reached out, setting his hands in Jeanie's armpits, presumably to take her from Hugh.

"NO!" Jeanie screamed, clinging to Hugh tightly.

Paul's heart plunged into his stomach. Hugh's face had fallen and he was frowning. Their eyes met, and Paul could see his own indecision mirrored in his partner's eyes.

"Jeanie, Uncle Hugh's going to have to go back to Discovery sometime." Jack patted her back. "Why don't you let Andy show you your room so the adults talk?"

Jeanie just clung to Hugh.

Hugh frowned, met Paul's eyes, and then looked over at Andy.

"Why don't I go with them?" Hugh suggested.

"Okay," Andy said.

Hugh met Paul's eyes. "I'll follow you." He stepped past Jack and followed Andy into the house.

Paul rubbed the bridge of his nose. "How I ever managed to deserve that man...."

"Paul?" Jack asked, his voice serious.

"He wasn't saying that to Andy; he was telling me he'd follow me if I wanted to leave Starfleet," Paul whispered .

"Are we going to have to fight over this, Paul? Seriously?" Jack crossed his arms.

"Boys," their father said sternly.

"Jeanie seems to want..."

"Paul, she's scared, her life's been turned upside down six ways from Sunday," Jack said. "And it's not like you're going to beam back up with her right now; there's no way that's a good idea."

Paul sighed. "I know."

"By the time you had your lab turned over to your replacement, she'd be settled and you'd just be uprooting her again," Jack said.

"It's worse than that. The captain has the first say in granting a hardship discharge and there's no way Lorca would approve it; we'd have to appeal, that would take forever..." Paul sighed. "And I'd be starting over, new research, new grants at a university. It wouldn't be ideal." Paul paused, taking a deep breath. "Don't take that the wrong way, Jack. Anything happens to you and Amy and we'll drop out and look after the kids without hesitation--it wasn't my idea to sign up in the first place don't forget--but I don't _have_ to and.... I just feel horrible for not wanting to. Or like I'm a bad uncle. Or both."

Jack draped an arm around Paul's shoulders. "That's one of the reasons Stacy wanted her to come to us once you enlisted. Also, I hate to tell you this, little brother--you _are_ horrible sometimes, but not for that. And doing what's best for Jeanie, even if she doesn't want you to, doesn't make you a bad uncle. I promise."

"I still feel like shit."

Jack drew him close. "Sometimes that's being a parent, little brother."

He rubbed his hand down Paul's arm and frowned. "What the hell is that on your forearm?"

"That's classified, sorry," Paul said. "I wish I could tell you because Hugh designed it and it's _genius_ but it's classified."

"But you're okay?" Jack asked.

"Physically," Paul replied. "I mean, my best friend died, my big sister died, my niece is a wreck...."

"Come on, Mom made matzah ball soup," Jack said, steering him towards the house.

Paul gaped. "Mom, I thought Jack said that the neighbors were descending on you all with too much food as it was."

"We all need chicken soup." His mom patted his shoulder. "Or are you complaining?"

"Definitely not," Paul replied.

She smiled. "Come on, let's go round up your wayward husband and the kids."

"Partner," Paul corrected absently.

* * *

Hugh carried Jeanie up the front stairs and through the front door. She was shaking in his arms. He shifted her a little bit, trying to keep her from slipping off of his hip.

Andy paused at the bottom of the stairs, frowning.

"Go on, I've got her," Hugh said gently.

Andy just looked at him, his eyes hollow. 

Oh, _kid_.

Hugh wanted to hug him, but his hands were full.

Andy started climbing the stairs. Okay, he could deal with slightly hurt nephew later.

Andy took a left at the top, going into a room with bright yellow walls. "This is your room. We just had a couple days, but the desk is nice." He set the package on it. "I made you some lady bug drawer pulls to replace the cats, but they're still drying. I'm going to make you a headboard too and you can help me design it if you want. I found some good bee stencils..." He stopped, looking at how Jeanie wasn't responding. "It'll be done soon, you'll see."

"Don't wanna," Jeanie whimpered. "Wanna stay with Uncle Paul and Uncle Hugh."

Hugh suppressed a sigh. "Why don't you give us a few minutes, buddy?" Hugh sat on the bed and gently tried to pull Jeanie's head off of his shoulder.

Andy stared, his eyes and nose scrunched.

"She just lost her parents little man. Give her a break, okay?" Hugh tried to smile reassuringly.

Andy sighed, but fled the room.

"Don't wanna stay here," Jeanie repeated.

"There really isn't a choice right now." Hugh ran a hand over her hair.

"Wanna go back with you and Uncle Paul," she sniffled. "And play with Cadet Tilly and..."

Hugh kissed the top of her forehead. "I know, sweetie, but that's just not going to work out."

"Why not?"

"Because a starship isn't a great place for a little kid--for starters, you'd be the only kid on board. There's no school..."

"That's not a bad thing."

"Yes it is," Hugh said. "Where else are you going to make friends your age?"

"But..."

"And there's no one to look after you while Uncle Paul and I are at work," Hugh added. "I know you and Cadet Tilly had a good time, but she usually has work to do." He paused. "To tell you the truth, you never would normally be allowed on the ship, not even for a few days. The reason you got to stay with us was because we were transporting everyone from your space station." He reached out and smoothed her hair.

"Uncle Hugh, I'm so scared," Jeanie whispered.

"I know, sweetie. This is very scary, but you have to do this. And pushing away your Uncle Jack and your grandmother isn't going to help."

There was a knock at the door.

Jeanie looked at Hugh.

"What are you looking at me for, kiddo? It's your room," Hugh said, "but remember what I just said."

Jeanie's face squished, but she didn't start crying. He'd take that as progress.

"Who is it?" Jeanie asked.

"It's Andy, can I come in now?"

Jeanie looked at Hugh again.

"Again, it's your room."

"Come in," Jeanie said.

Andy poked his head in. 

Hugh beckoned him in with a finger, absently wondering how he'd ended up being the one to referee this. 

Andy shifted from foot to foot. "Are you feeling better?"

Jeanie glanced at Hugh.

"Honest." He squeezed her hand.

"I'm really scared," Jeanie said quietly.

"Of what?" Andy sat on Jeanie's other side. "Who's scaring you? Do you want me to beat them up?"

Jeanie shook her head.

"If you change your mind, just ask, okay?" Andy patted her back.

Jeanie nodded.

"I made you something." Andy stood up, picked up the package from the desk, and offered it to Jeanie.

"I didn't get you anything," Jeanie said quietly. "Uncle Hugh and Uncle Paul brought you something though."

"It's a welcome home present." Andy shrugged. "I was already here."

Jeanie accepted the package and ripped open the wrapping paper. Inside was a half cylinder. The flat floor and rounded ends were made of wood, and the rounded part was an opening covered in metal mesh. One one end, there was a hole covered by a wooden circle that swung upward on a screw. On it was written "Jeanie's Bugs". 

Jeanie bowled Andy over in a hug. "Thank you thank you thank you!"

"Can I see that?" Hugh asked.

Jeanie handed it to him.

"You made this, Andy?"

Andy scuffed his shoes. "I found the blueprints in the public data bank, but yes."

"This is amazing!" Hugh handed the bug container back to Jeanie.

Paul and Jack appeared in the doorway.

"Andy is going to be a great big brother," Jack said.

"Hi, Uncle Jack," Jeanie whispered.

Jack walked into the room and squatted down. "Hey, kiddo. You ready for a hug? I've been wanting to give you a big hug for a couple days now." He held his arms open, and Jeanie stepped into them tentatively.

Jack squeezed her tight, and then Jeanie buried her face in his neck. Good.

That was good right?

Hugh got off the bed and stood by Paul, gently taking his hand. "What was the verdict?"

"We're leaving her here either way," Paul whispered. "It would take awhile to be able to leave Discovery. Better for her if she's staying for keeps."

Hugh hadn't thought of that, but it was as good an excuse as any.

Paul leaned into his shoulder. "We're doing the right thing, right?"

Hugh looked at Jeanie sobbing into Jack's shoulder. "Yeah," he whispered. Then, in a normal voice, "Hey, Andy, show your Uncle Paul the bug house you made for your cousin, it's incredible."

Andy smiled at the praise, and preened as he grabbed the bug house off of Jeanie's bed. Andy brought it over and handed it to Paul.

* * *

They were seated around Jack's table having just finished lunch when the communicator in Paul's pocket chirruped.

He sighed and opened it. "Stamets here."

"Lieutenant Stamets, we've completed the offloading of refugees ahead of schedule," Bryce's voice came through the communicator. "Captain Lorca wants everyone back on board ASAP. We'll be looking to transport you and Doctor Culber in 10 minutes."

"Acknowledged," Paul said. "Stamets out." He closed the communicator and sighed. "I guess we have ten minutes." He stood up and looked around for a minute, unsure of where to start.

Stacy was supposed to have been safe, and she wasn't. The spore drive made Discovery a military target. He might never see any of his family again.

Jeanie ran up to him and hugged him around the middle. "I love you, Uncle Paul."

He picked her up, because he could, and the next time he saw her (there would be a next time, there would!) he might not be able to. "I love you too." He kissed her forehead, once, twice, then both cheeks, and squeezed her tight. He tried to set her down, but Jeanie refused to let go. "Let me say good-bye to your grandparents and Uncle Jack, sprite."

Jeanie let go, albeit reluctantly.

Paul was vaguely aware of Hugh sweeping her up towards the ceiling like she was still a tiny thing. The fink.

Paul's mother grabbed him in a tight hug. "You be careful; remember you're more important than fungus."

"I love you, Mom." Paul hugged her back. He tried to think of something else to say; something that would comfort her if something happened. He drew a complete blank. "I love you so much."

"I love you too, sweetheart." She drew back, stroking his arms again; her fingers rested on the lumps the spore drive implants made under his sleeves. "You're sure you're okay?"

"I'm fine, Mom," Paul said.

She reached up, cupping his face with her palm. "Be careful."

His dad stepped up, holding out a hand for Paul to shake. Seriously? Paul rolled his eyes, holding his arms out for a hug.

His father wrapped his arms around him, engulfing him like when he was a little kid. "Take care of yourself, son. I love you." He patted Paul's back.

"Love you too," Paul managed; his eyes were threatening to well up and spill over on him. He didn't want to cry. Not when he had to beam back up to the ship and then walk to his quarters where everyone could see.

His dad let go, patting him again.

Jack held his arms open, smacking Paul on the back as he came in for a hug. "Take care of yourself, fungus face."

"Take care of Jeanie, donkey head," Paul shot back. He added, "Love you," quiet enough that no one else could hear. 

"Love you too," Jack returned.

He gave Amy a hug as well, then turned to Andy, whose eyes were darting around.

Still? Paul held out his hand. "I love you, buddy."

He was pleasantly surprised when Andy took his hand, then pulled him into a hug. "Love you too." Andy took a deep breath, talking fast. "I'm sorry I was such a jerk to you and Aunt Stacy when we went to Risa, I should've...."

"Whoah, hey, Andy, _breathe_." Paul backed up and rubbed his hands over Andy's arms. "You're a teenager; I didn't take it personally. Neither did Aunt Stacy. We were joking about how we used to do that to your great-grandparents at your age."

Andy's eyes were welling with tears.

Paul pulled him into another hug. "It's okay, buddy." He paused. "I'm proud of you: for figuring this out, for owning up to it, for being an excellent woodworker, and for being so great to Jeanie." He dropped a kiss on top of Andy's head. "We're good, okay?"

Andy nodded. Paul stepped back, and Hugh engulfed Andy in a bear hug.

Paul took another step over. His father squeezed his shoulder. "I have two words for you, son: Grandma Stamets."

Paul nodded, finally getting it. He'd been a teenager to his grandmother once, too.

"Uncle Paul?" Jeanie asked softly.

"What, sweetie?"

"Can I have one more hug for the road?"

He responded by bending down and picking her up again, squeezing her tightly. He kissed her forehead and both cheeks. Then his communicator went off.

"You better take this," Paul said, handing Jeanie to Jack. "You can call me and Uncle Hugh anytime, okay?"

Jeanie nodded.

He reached into his pocket and pulled out the communicator.

Hugh walked by Jack, stopping long enough to give Jeanie a quick kiss on the cheek.

"Stamets here."

"Ready Lieutenant?"

No. "Affirmative, Discovery; two to beam up," Paul replied.

He waved as the world dissolved into glitter and resolved into the transporter room.

"Gentlemen," the transporter chief said.

"Hi," Paul managed.

"Excuse us, chief." Hugh wrapped an arm around Paul, guiding him towards the door.

* * *

Once they were back in their quarters, Paul spilled onto the couch, resting his head in his hands.

Hugh sat next to him, rubbing the sore spot on Paul's neck with his thumb and forefinger. "How you holding up?"

Paul sniffled, the tears that had been threatening to well up were coming freely now.

Hugh pulled him close, settling Paul's head against his chest.

"How are you?" Paul asked.

"I kinda want to call my mom, but it'll wait a little bit." Hugh kissed the top of Paul's head.

"Not too long." Paul sat up a little, resting his head in the crook of Hugh's neck.

"Not too long," Hugh agreed, "but a little." He wrapped his arms around Paul, resting his nose on Paul's forehead.

Paul let go, letting himself cry, safe in his partner's arms.

End


End file.
